The Dragon, the Cat, the Champion, and the Soul Reaper
by TPoynt
Summary: The Fall of Beacon robbed Remnant of three young souls. Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha now find themselves in an unknown world with chains attached to their chests, where they meet newly-minted Soul Reaper Ichigo Kurosaki. (UP FOR ADOPTION! PM ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED!)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys. Welcome to the first chapter of my very first fanfic. For the few people who saw this when it was first uploaded, the text turned into a jumbled mess. I reuploaded the first chapter, so hopefully the problem is fixed. Anyway, this fic started as a way to practice my writing and I fell in love with the story. Hope you guys enjoy.**

  
Chapter 1: The Fall of Beacon and the Substitute Soul Reaper

Pyrrha Nikos never thought it would end like this. The once undefeated champion of Mistral now sat at the mercy of her opponent, Cinder Fall. She had fought countless battles, earned the title of "The Invincible Girl", had made truly wonderful friendships, and had even been chosen to become the next Fall Maiden and inherit untold power. But that had all been stripped away in one fateful night.

It started during the final round of the Vytal Tournament. Her first opponent was Penny, a friendly-looking girl whom was secretly a robot. She hadn't known Penny that well, but she held no ill will towards the girl. However, she had been tricked into using her powers over magnetism to literally rip Penny to pieces. That was just the beginning. After that, the creatures of Grimm had attacked the city of Vale without warning, forcing her into a fight for her life. After leaving the arena and making it back to Beacon, she was greeted by Professor Ozpin, and followed him along with Jaune, her partner that she harbored secret affections for.

She had followed Ozpin to the vault underneath Beacon to attempt to have her inherit the Fall Maiden's powers, but that hope was dashed when Cinder Fall, the Maiden's assailant and possessor of half her power, fired an arrow straight into the Maiden's heart, killing her and stealing the rest of the power for herself. Pyrrha and Jaune escaped the vault, but Ozpin was nowhere to be seen. The pair had seen Cinder ascend Beacon Tower, and Pyrrha sent Jaune on his way in a rocket-propelled locker, but not before giving him a parting kiss. She then made her way up the tower to confront Cinder and face her destiny.

She had fought well, but in the end, the new Fall Maiden proved too powerful for the Invincible Girl. And so Pyrrha sat, an arrow having pierced her ankle, watching as Cinder slowly walked towards her.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours," Cinder said to the red-haired warrior.

_That's rich coming from the one who stole the Maiden's powers in the first place_, thought Pyrrha.

Cinder reached down and lifted Pyrrha's head, forcing her to look the Maiden in the eyes. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."

Pyrrha sat up straight, a defiant look in her eyes.

"Do you believe in destiny?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Cinder, standing up and reforming her bow in her hands. She manifested an arrow, nocked it and took aim right at Pyrrha's chest. Pyrrha leaned back, resigned to her fate.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. She looked to the source, and saw her friend Ruby Rose, who had just climbed up the tower, presumably to help her.

Before Pyrrha could react to Ruby's presence, she felt a sharp, immense pain as Cinder let the arrow loose, piercing her straight in her heart. Pyrrha let out a few gasps for breath, looking at the stunned expression on Ruby's face and the cold, emotionless one on Cinder's. And instantly, she felt regret. And then, nothing.

Blake Belladonna was not faring much better. She was laying on the ground at the feet of her former partner, Adam Taurus. He had led the White Fang in their attack on Beacon, and now he was coming for her. She had left him during a mission a while ago, and he had devoted all of his resources to tracking her down. And now he was here. Right in front of her. She had nowhere to run.

"This could have been our day!" Adam yelled at the black-haired cat Faunus. "Can't you see that?!"

"I never wanted this!" Blake replied, slowly starting to sit up. "I wanted equality! I wanted peace!" She raised her weapon, Gambol Shroud, and fired a few shots at Adam, which he blocked with his bright red katana, Wilt.

"What you want is impossible!" he yelled back, before sheathing his sword and backhanding her, knocking her back onto the floor.

"But I understand," he said, suddenly much more calm. "Because all I want is you, Blake."

Blake attempted to raise her weapon once again, but a swift kick from Adam sent it across the room.

"And as I set upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love," he said, kneeling down above her.

"Blake!" a distant voice called. Looking for the source of the voice, both Adam and Blake spotted Yang Xiao Long, Blake's partner at Beacon.

"Blake!" Yang called again. "Where are you?!"

_No_, Blake thought. _Yang shouldn't be here. _

Adam had noticed how concerned Blake had suddenly grown for the blond girl.

"Starting with her," he said, standing up and drawing his sword. He then stabbed Blake right in the stomach, forcing a scream to escape her lips. The scream caught Yang's attention, which is exactly what Adam wanted. He removed the sword from Blake's abdomen, turning towards Yang and sheathing his sword.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" the blond screamed, activating her Semblance, her normally lilac eyes turning a vibrant shade of crimson, her hair glowing.

"No," Blake weakly attempted to convince her partner not to attack. "Please."

With a scream, Yang charged straight at Adam, who in one quick motion, drew his sword and delivered a lightning-fast slash. Blake could only watch in horror as Yang's form fell in two pieces, severed at the waist, sending blood spraying all over the room.

Blake's worst fears had been realized. Her best friend, her partner, now lay dead at her feet. And it was all her fault.

"You're a monster," she said quietly to Adam, tears streaming down her face. "YOU'RE A MONSTER!"

Adam looked down at her, his expression impossible to read behind his mask. "Only because the humans made me one."

"No," she said. "Only because you chose to be one."

Adam looked down, seemingly saddened by her words. "Why must you hurt me, Blake?" he asked, raising his sword once again.

Blake did not even attempt to resist. She was tired of all the fighting, tired of running, tired of people she cared about getting hurt because of her own cursed past. If her death would prevent all of that, then she welcomed it. And so it was with a calm reservation that she allowed Adam to follow through in his attack, his blood-red sword slicing her flesh from her right shoulder to her left hip, covering his body in her blood. It was immensely painful, but only for a few seconds. And then it all went black.

"You got a death wish, pal?"

The question was directed at Ichigo Kurosaki, a high school student at Karakura High School. Ichigo stood tall, still wearing the all grey uniform of his school, nonchalantly scratching the side of his head, messing up his mop of bright orange hair. The one who asked the question was a thug with a thin mustache and a beanie, wearing camo pants, a shirt with the Canadian flag printed on the front, and black combat boots.

"Nobody jumps one of my boys for no good reason and lives to tell about it," the thug continued. The "boy" in question lay on a heap on the ground, presumably having been knocked there by Ichigo.

"Hm," mumbled Ichigo, still scratching his head.

"That's all you have to say?!" The thug shouted, attempting to throw a punch, only to be met with Ichigo's foot connecting with his cheek. The thug fell over, and Ichigo began stomping on his back while he was down. The other three thugs simply watched, not being able to decide on whether or not they should help their friend. Once Ichigo was convinced the thug was thoroughly unconscious, he looked up to address the other thugs.

_These guys are really starting to piss me off, _he thought to himself.

"Now listen up, you pond scum!" He yelled at the other thugs. "Do you see that right there?" He pointed at a small vase of flowers that was laying sideways on the sidewalk.

"I got a couple questions for you. First up: What do you think that is? You, the one in the middle- answer!"

"Who, me?" The thug in question pointed to himself, before looking at the vase. "Uh, I guess somebody left those flowers for some kid who got killed here."

"Correct!" Ichigo yelled, as he delivered a kick to the thug that answered him.

_ One down_.

"Now for question 2. That vase over there: Why is it lying on its side?"

One of the thugs answered. "I guess one of us knocked it over when we were skateboarding."

This prompted Ichigo to kick both remaining thugs, sending them flying backwards. "You guys catch on fast," he said. He looked down at the thugs with pure, unbridled fury in his gaze. "Now go over there and apologize, or next time the flowers will be for you!" He screamed at the thugs, causing them to scream in terror and run off, apologizing all the way.

"There," he said. "That oughta keep them from showing their ugly faces around here. Sorry about that." He turned around to acknowledge a new presence. Floating above the flowers was a little girl with brown hair done up in pigtails. She was wearing white shorts and a red-and-white striped tee shirt. She also had a short chain sticking out of her chest. "I'll pick you up some new flowers tomorrow," Ichigo said to the little girl.

"Thank you for helping me," The girl said to him. "Maybe now, I can finally rest in peace."

"It was nothing," he said, bending down to put the vase back where it belonged. "It's the least I could do. After all, you deserve to rest peacefully." With that, he turned around and walked away, waving goodbye to the girl as he left.

For as long as Ichigo could remember, he possessed a special ability. Unlike most people, he could see the souls of the dead. He figured it had something to do with his family being entrusted with the lives of the living, as the Kurosaki's owned a medical clinic in town. He didn't really mind helping the spirits out, but it always made Ichigo feel separate from his peers. This wasn't exactly something he could just tell any of his friends about. They'd think he was crazy. So the secret stayed with his family. His younger sister Karin could also see spirits, much to her chagrin, but his father and other sister Yuzu couldn't.

Ichigo was approaching his house, located behind the Kurosaki clinic. That little scuffle with the thugs earlier had delayed him, so it was already dark by the time he got home. He was in for it now.

"I'm home," Ichigo said as he walked through the door, only to be met by a roundhouse kick to the face, courtesy of his father, Isshin, knocking him to the ground.

"You let your guard down," said Isshin mockingly, standing over Ichigo with his hands on his hips. He was wearing a yellow shirt with red floral print, grey slacks, and his long white doctor's coat. He had short black hair and stubble along his chin. "Always stay alert when you enter a room and you're late for dinner. AGAIN!"

"Oh, come on!" Ichigo shouted back at his father, getting right up in his face. "Is that any way to welcome your own son after he just risked his life to help a spirit find peace?!"

"Oh, so it's the ghost's fault now, is it?! I suppose a ghost forgot to clean your room, too? When are you gonna show some discipline?! I know you can see ghosts and I can't, but I'm still in charge here!" He threw a punch at Ichigo, which was returned by his son, and before long, the two of them were locked in combat, each seriously trying to hurt the other, while Ichigo's sisters, Yuzu and Karin sat at the dinner table. Yuzu was watching the two of them fight, a concerned look in her eyes, while Karin just continued eating her rice, not a care in the world.

"Hey," Yuzu called to the pair. She had shoulder-length light brown hair, with the left side held out of her face with a strawberry-shaped hair pin. She was wearing a yellow hooded sweatshirt and black pants under a long white apron. "Stop fighting, you two. Come over here and eat your dinner."

"Let them fight," Karin said nonchalantly to her twin sister. She had black hair that stopped just short of touching her shoulders, and was wearing a blue tee shirt with short black sleeves, and black shorts. "More rice for me." She lifted her bowl to Yuzu, indicating that she did in fact want more rice.

"That's not very nice, Karin," Yuzu replied.

Ichigo landed a punch to the middle of his father's face, sending him rolling backwards into the wall on the opposite side of the room. "You know, Dad," he yelled, pointing angrily at his father. "For any normal, healthy high school kid, a 7 o'clock curfew is totally uncool!"

"Ichigo," Karin said to him, not looking up from her dinner. "Speaking of uncool, you have a visitor."

Ichigo looked over his shoulder, seeing a spirit floating behind him. The spirit belonged to a middle-aged man, with a white dress shirt and black tie, his legs being replaced by a wispy tail. Just like the little girl, he had a chain sticking out of his chest.

Ichigo looked at the spirit annoyed. "How long have you been there?" He asked. "Take a hike, will you?" He swung his hands out, attempting to swat the spirit out of the air, but it flew around him, dodging his swipes. "You damn pest."

"You dropped your guard again!" His dad shouted suddenly, delivering a kick that took out Ichigo's legs. Ichigo recovered quickly and threw one final punch to Isshin's face. With a grunt, his father finally collapsed on the ground, completely defeated. "Good job, my son," he said through clenched teeth. "No charge for the lesson."

"Damn goat-chin," said Ichigo. "Never mind dinner. I'm going to my room."

"Wait, Ichigo!" Yuzu called, but Ichigo didn't want to listen.

"Way to go," Karin said, looking at their father. "You really have a way with kids."

"Me?" Isshin stood up, looking genuinely offended. "What did I do?"

"Ichigo is kind of having a rough time right now," Yuzu answered.

"Yeah," said Karin. "He said he's seeing more spirits lately than ever before.

"What?!" Isshin asked, surprised. "Why would he talk about these things with you two instead of coming to his own dad? That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does," Karin responded. "You're over forty, but you have the maturity of a pre-schooler, Dad."

Isshin stumbled over to a giant poster on the wall, depicting Masaki Kurosaki, Isshin's wife and Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu's mother.

"Oh, my dear wife!" He yelled, clutching at the poster dramatically. "Maybe it's because they're hitting puberty, but our daughters are being so cold to me! What do I do? What do I do?!"

"You can start by taking down that poster," Karin deadpaned.

The next morning, Ichigo walked into the living room, his school uniform already on. It was a pair of grey slacks and a grey blazer, and he wore a blue tee shirt underneath it. The T.V. was on and the news was playing, but he didn't really pay it any mind. Yuzu and Karin were already eating breakfast.

"Hey," he said to his sisters groggily.

"Good morning, Ichigo," Yuzu greeted cheerfully.

"Morning," he replied. He looked around, and saw it was just them. "Where's dad?" he asked.

"Early meeting," Karin replied. "Said he'd be late tonight, too."

"Again?"

Ichigo finally turned to look at the T.V. to see what was on the morning news, and was surprised that they were reporting about an explosion in town. And he recognized where it was.

"Something bad happen?" Yuzu asked.

"That's near here," Ichigo realized. _How did we not hear it?_

Ichigo was walking through town on his way to school, passing through the spot the news was showing. Sure enough, there was police tape everywhere, and it looked like a bomb had gone off, with police and fire fighters everywhere. He made sure to stop by the place where he met the girl yesterday, having stopped to buy her some new flowers. He was nothing if not a man of his word. Oddly enough, the girl was nowhere to be found.

"Hello?" he called, looking for the girl. Suddenly, he heard a loud roar. He ran towards the source, only to round a corner and watch a building explode a block away from him, sending everybody around him into a panic. Against his better judgement, he ran towards the source of the explosion, and was greeted by the weirdest thing he had ever seen.

Standing in front of him was a giant monster. It had the body of some kind of insect, and its arms were long bladed appendages, similar to a praying mantis. It was also wearing a white mask that looked like it was made out of bone, and had a large gaping hole in the center of its body.

He heard a voice call out, "Help me!"

Looking down, he saw the spirit girl from yesterday running from the monster in terror.

"Run!" he said to her, leading her away. "Hurry!" The monster had turned towards them and begun to chase them.

"What is that thing?" the girl asked.

"I don't know," Ichigo replied. "Just keep running!"

Suddenly, the girl tripped and fell over. Ichigo ran back over to help her up, and noticed that the monster had almost caught up to them. He looked up in shock, when a black butterfly flew into his line of sight, only to be replaced by a figure. She was a young woman, wearing black robes, with black hair reaching down past her shoulders, and a single strand falling in front of her face. The most striking thing about her, though, was the katana in her hands. The unknown girl swung her sword, slashing the monster across the face before landing and assuming a battle stance. The warrior leapt high into the air, raising her sword above her head before bringing it down in a vicious strike, cutting the monster in half, its form dissolving into black particles.

The girl calmly landed, sheathed her sword without a word, and walked away. Ichigo lost sight of her when a crowd began to form, curious to see what happened.

_What the hell was that?_

Later that night, Ichigo was lying awake in his bed, trying to make heads or tails of what happened earlier. Who was that girl? What was that monster? How did she kill it? He was laying there, deep in thought, when he saw the black butterfly form earlier fly through his window. Suddenly, he saw the mysterious girl standing on his desk next to his bed. He was able to get a good look at her now, and realized how young she must be. She was a good foot shorter than him, and looked like she was about his age, if not even younger. He sat up and just gaped at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked her. She didn't respond. She just stood there, looking like she was thinking about something, before reaching down to grab her sword, which was sheathed at her waist.

"Ah!" Ichigo shouted, backing up as far away from her as he could. "Put that thing away! You're not slicing me up!" The girl continued to ignore him, jumping off the desk and standing in the middle of his bedroom, hand still on her sword, which she had yet to draw. "Hey!" He said, trying to get her to stop ignoring him.

"It's getting closer," the girl said out loud to herself. "I can feel it." Her thoughts were interrupted by Ichigo's foot being planted in her back, knocking her on her stomach.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ichigo demanded, as she crashed to the ground. "If you think you're a burglar, you really suck at it. Let me give you some advice: don't talk to yourself when you're trying to sneak into someone's house."

"You kicked me," the girl said incredulously. "But how? I can't be seen by ordinary humans. You can see me?"

"Considering that was my foot I just planted in your ass, I'd say yeah, I can see you," Ichigo answered.

"You were the one I saw in town earlier," the girl said, finally standing up. "I remember."

"Nothing gets by you, does it?"

The girl reached up and started poking his face. "That's strange," she said. "You look normal, but you must be defective somehow."

"I'll show you defective," Ichigo said, thoroughly irritated by the weird girl in front of him. _What is wrong with her? She breaks into my house, talks to herself, and then insults me?_ He raised his leg to kick her again, but she flipped over him, using his head as a footstool to jump behind him, knocking him to the floor in the process. "Who are you?" He asked again.

"You want to know?" The girl asked. "Then I'll tell you. I'm a Soul Reaper."

"Alright," Ichigo said, after hearing the girl's explanation. "Let me see if I got this right. You're something called a Soul Reaper."

"Mmhm," the girl nodded.

"And you're telling me that you were sent here on a mission by something called the Soul Society."

"Mm."

"To deal with demons like the one we saw today."

"Mmhm."

"Which was chasing after that girl's soul."

"Mhm."

"That all sounds perfectly believable to me. ALONG WITH FLYING PIGS AND THE TOOTH FAIRY!"

"How dare you?" The girl asked. "Why wouldn't you believe in Soul Reapers when you just admitted you can see spirits?"

"Sure, but I've never heard of any Soul Reapers before. And frankly, your whole story just sounds crazy. I don't believe in anything I can't see."

"Well, you see me, don't you?" the girl asked, standing up.

"That's true," he said. "And you're definitely not human. But why don't you go play your little Soul Reaper games somewhere else? Okay, you little brat?" At that, he condescendingly put his hand on top of her head, as if he was reprimanding a child. "Now run along."

"I'm a brat, huh?" The girl said, audibly pissed off. She reached out her right arm, placing two fingers to Ichigo's chest. "Bakudo number 1: Sai!" She shouted.

Suddenly, Ichigo felt an invisible force wrench his arms behind his back and pull him to the floor. "What the hell? I can't move! What did you do to me?" He demanded of the girl.

"I paralyzed you. I used what we Soul Reapers call a kido on you. It's an incantation only we Soul Reapers can cast." She looked down at him with a mocking smirk on her face. "It's useless to struggle. You're just wasting your energy. I may look young to you, but I've already lived nearly 10 human lifetimes. I would kill you right now for your insults if it were not against my orders. So you, 'little brat', be grateful."

"You've got nerve," Ichigo said defiantly.

"And now," the girl said, drawing her sword.

_What the hell?_ Ichigo thought. _I thought she said she wasn't going to kill me!_

The Soul Reaper raised her sword above her head, and brought it down. Ichigo closed his eyes, preparing himself to be sliced in two. To his surprise, the attack never came. Instead, he looked to his right and saw the pommel of the girl's sword pressed up against the forehead of the ghost of the middle-aged man from yesterday.

"No," the spirit begged. "Please don't. I don't want to be sent to the underworld."

"You needn't worry," the Soul Reaper said to the spirit, smiling pleasantly. "Because you are bound for a better place- The Soul Society. There, your soul will be at peace." She removed her sword from his forehead, and it started to glow. The spirit's face changed from one of fear to one of contentment, as he vanished into a glowing blue light that had appeared underneath him.

"Where'd he go?" Ichigo asked the Soul Reaper. "What did you do to him?"

The Soul Reaper sheathed her sword. "I sent his spirit to the Soul Society," she answered. "It's one of the main responsibilities of a Soul Reaper. You people usually call it 'passing on'. Now I'll explain why I'm here. And I'll use small words so even you can understand it."

She reached into her robe and pulled out what appeared to be a sketch pad. When she showed it to Ichigo, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It looked a kindergartener had drawn those pictures. He saw what looked to be a bunny surrounded by hearts with the word "wholes" written underneath it, and what he assumed was a bear face surrounded by lightning bolts with the word "hollows" written underneath it.

_Is she sure she isn't a child?_ Ichigo thought.

"There are two types of spirits in this world," she began. "The first kind are the normal spirits called 'wholes'. The ghosts you usually see are this kind. The second kind are evil spirits known as Hollows. The Hollows attack people, living or dead, in order to devour their souls. Any questions so far?"

"Yeah, why do your drawings suck so much?"

The Soul Reaper took advantage of Ichigo's paralysis to draw a curly mustache on his face.

"Hey!" He yelled at her, trying to struggle. "You'll pay for that!"

"Let's continue with our lesson, monsieur," said the Soul Reaper, clearly proud of her little prank and annoyed by Ichigo's insult of her drawing skills. "Soul Reapers have two main missions. First, to lead Wholes to the Soul Society through Konso, as I just did. Second, to exorcise Hollows wherever we find them."

"That Hollow with the bug body earlier," Ichigo began. "Why was it chasing that girl?"

"I don't know," the Soul Reaper answered. "We still don't fully understand what motivates the Hollows."

Suddenly, Ichigo heard a loud explosion and a roar. _What was that?!_ He thought.

"One thing we do know," the Soul Reaper continued. "There's still a second Hollow prowling around somewhere nearby."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for? Go out and kill it."

"I would, but I can't seem to detect its location," the Soul Reaper said, looking down, clearly disappointed in herself. "Usually, I have no trouble finding a Hollow that's close by. But here, it's like my senses are being jammed by some powerful force.

"What are you, deaf?" Ichigo asked her, having no clue what she was rambling about. "There's something huge howling out there. That sound has to be a Hollow."

"Something howling?" The Soul Reaper asked, looking to Ichigo. "What do you mean?" Suddenly her eyes went wide with shock, finally hearing the Hollow. She stands up, reaching for her sword. "Now I hear it. Definitely a Hollow."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you."

There was a crashing sound, and Ichigo heard a girl's voice calling for help.

"That's Yuzu!" Ichigo realized, beginning to panic. His sister was clearly in some kind of trouble, and he couldn't do anything about it, still stuck by the paralysis spell the Soul Reaper cast on him. The Soul Reaper ran out of the bedroom, leaving Ichigo behind.

"Hey, wait!" He called after the Soul Reaper. "Untie me!"

The Soul Reaper stopped just after crossing the threshold into the hallway, the air suddenly feeling very heavy. _This spiritual pressure is among the strongest I've ever felt,_ she thought. _How could I have not sensed it earlier?_

"Ichigo?" a girl's voice weakly called. The Soul Reaper turned and saw a young girl with light brown hair stumble down the hallway before collapsing in front of Ichigo's bedroom door.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo called, his panic only getting worse. "What happened?"

"Ichigo," Yuzu said, getting weaker by the minute. "Karin's been…" Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "Ichigo, you've got to save her." Yuzu tried to reach out to Ichigo, but fell unconscious.

"Hey!" Ichigo called out to the Soul Reaper, who was bending down to make sure Yuzu was still alive. "You've got to let me go!" He continued to struggle in his magical bonds. A scream rang out from outside, causing the Soul Reaper to get up and run down the hall and down the stairs.

"Hey!" Ichigo called again, but the Soul Reaper was already gone. "Gotta break free," he said, using all of his might to try to stand up.

The Soul Reaper had made it to the bottom of the stairs and was standing in front of a huge hole in the side of the house, staring right at a Hollow. This one was more humanoid than the last one, looking almost like a fishman. It stood at around two stories tall, and in its hand was a black-haired girl.

"Put me down!" the girl shouted. The Soul Reaper drew her sword, preparing for battle, but was interrupted when Ichigo came tumbling down the stairs, arms still trapped behind his back.

"Stay out of this!" The Soul Reaper shouted to Ichigo.

"Damn it," he grunted, struggling onto his feet, completely flooring the Soul Reaper.

_How can he be on his feet when he's under my spell?_

Ichigo stumbled into her. "Fool," she said. "You'll only get in my way."

"Shut up," he growled at her. He then saw the giant Hollow with Karin in its grasp. "Karin!" He shouted, and started struggling harder than ever to break the spell.

"Stop!" The Soul Reaper yelled to him. "That kido is too strong for a human to break. If you keep trying, you'll only cause damage to your soul!"

Ichigo let out a sustained scream, and started glowing. _What?_ The Soul Reaper thought. _He's breaking the kido? But that's impossible_. With one final roar, Ichigo's arms were freed. He charged forward, grabbing a folding chair to use as a weapon.

"Don't do it!" The Soul Reaper tried to stop him, knowing he was only going to get himself killed.

"Ichigo!" Karin yelled. "Get me out of here!" He charged at the Hollow, raising his folding chair, but a single punch from the Hollow's free hand knocked him down the street.

"Karin," Ichigo said weakly, trying to get up.

"I found you," the Hollow said, raising his hand to crush Ichigo. He rolled out of the way as the Soul Reaper sliced the arm holding Karin open with her sword, causing the Hollow to roar in pain and drop Karin. Ichigo ran up and caught her, as the Hollow stepped back through a portal, vanishing from sight.

"Karin!" Ichigo yelled, trying to wake her up, but she wasn't responding. "No!"

"Don't worry," the Soul Reaper said, still on her guard. "She'll be alright. The Hollow left without devouring either of your sisters' souls."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's seeking a specific soul to eat, one with a much higher concentration of spirit energy. In fact, the Hollow earlier was looking for that soul, too, not the girl's," the Soul Reaper realized.

"But why?"

"For some reason, most of your spirit energy was hidden deep within you until now, when you needed it to save your sister. That's why I didn't sense anything unusual about you when I arrived. It also explains why the Hollows haven't come after you. The spirit energy you have bottled up inside you started to pour out when you made contact with that young girl's ghost. As a result, your soul became exposed. Those two Hollows today detected your soul through that girl, and they were using her to track you down. Which means the Hollows are really after you."

"Those things want me?" Ichigo asked, a horrified look on his face.

A portal opened, and the Hollow stepped out of it. "It's back!" The Soul Reaper said. "Get out of here!"

"No!" Ichigo said, standing up. "So that poor girl was attacked because of me?"

"That's one way to look at it."

"And now both of my sisters could wind up dead, and it's all my fault?" He remembered the scared looks on his sisters' faces, and charged at the Hollow, ignoring the Souls Reaper's attempts to stop him. He stopped before the Hollow.

"Coward!" He shouted at it. "Quit attacking others. If it's my soul you want, come and get it. Fight me one-on-one, you ugly bastard! Just leave them out of it!" The Hollow charged at him, opening its mouth wide as if it intended to swallow him whole. There was a spray of blood as Ichigo realized the Soul Reaper had gotten in front of the Hollow, taking out one of its teeth with her sword, but the rest the teeth were clamped firmly on her shoulder. The Hollow pulled back, ripping a chunk of her skin off, and the Soul Reaper fell to the ground, blood covering what was left of her shoulder.

"Soul Reaper!" Ichigo shouted.

"You are a fool," the Soul Reaper gasped. "How could you have possibly thought you were a match for a Hollow? Did you really think he would just leave if you gave him your soul? One soul is never enough for them." She started struggling to get up, but was too injured to get very far. "If you don't stop getting in my way, we're all going to die!" The Hollow was holding its mask, clearly in pain as the Soul Reaper continued trying to get up.

"I'm too injured to fight," the Soul Reaper said, resting against an electrical pole. "Do you want to save your family?"

"Of course I do," Ichigo said. "If there's a way, then tell me how." The Soul Reaper reached for her sword.

"It will only be temporary," she began. "But you must become a Soul Reaper." She pointed her sword at Ichigo as she said this.

"What?"

"You must take my Zanpakuto and run it through the center of your being, so that I may pour my powers into you. I can't guarantee that you will live. But if it doesn't work, it won't matter." The Hollow started to walk back towards them.

"Then give me that blade, Soul Reaper," Ichigo said, a fierce determination in his voice.

"My name is Rukia," she said. "Rukia Kuchiki." Ichigo grabbed the blade with both hands as the Hollow started to run.

"And my name is Ichigo Kurosaki!" They pulled the blade through Ichigo's chest, causing an explosion of bright blue light. The Hollow recoiled from the explosion, only to discover that one of its arms had been sliced off. When the light faded, Ichigo was standing behind the Hollow, now wearing a robe identical to Rukia's. Or it would be, if Rukia's robes hadn't become white. In his hand was a gigantic sword, shaped like a katana and as tall as he was, a thick leather sheath strapped to his back. He rested the sword on his shoulder as energy started to swirl around his feet.

_How could this have happened?_ Rukia thought. _I meant to give him only half of my power, but somehow he's taken nearly all of it._

"This ends now!" Ichigo shouted to the Hollow, charging at it.

_What kind of being is he? I've never seen a human with spirit energy this strong. That's what was jamming my senses before. I've never heard of a human with enough strength to break the kido on his own. And I have never seen a Soul Reaper wield such a huge Zanpakuto._

The Hollow tried to stomp on Ichigo, but he dodged it and sliced off its leg. He looked at it with pure contempt in his eyes.

"You will pay for hurting my family, you Hollow scum. Feel the wrath of my blade!" He let out a battle cry, raised his sword above his head, and brought it down, slicing the Hollow clean in half, causing it to dissolve into black particles.

"Yeah!" Ichigo celebrated his win. "How do you like that, you ugly son of a bitch?"

"Incredible," Rukia said, utterly astonished by what she had just seen. Ichigo was about to turn to say something to her, when there was a loud crash behind him.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed.

"What now?" Rukia said.

Ichigo turned around, raising his sword at the source of the sound, not knowing what to expect. When the dust cleared, to his surprise, he saw an impact crater in the middle of the street, with three girls lying in the middle of it. They were quite frankly the oddest-looking girls he had ever seen.

The first girl had long blonde hair that reached down to her waist and lilac eyes. She was wearing a short tan jacket with short puffy sleeves that left her midriff exposed. The top of the jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a yellow crop top underneath. She was also wearing very short black shorts. She had a brown half-skirt behind her, with a longer white one underneath, brown boots, orange socks, and a purple bandana around her left leg. Completing her outfit was an orange infinity scarf. Ichigo couldn't help but notice her rather substantial bust.

The second girl had long black hair and amber eyes, with a black bow in her hair. She was wearing a white crop top with a black coat-tailed vest over it, also exposing her midriff. She was wearing white shorts, with black full-length stockings underneath them that gradually turned purple, and black heeled boots. She wore black ribbons on both arms, and a detached black sleeve on her left arm.

The third girl had long red hair tied in a ponytail, and green eyes. She had a golden circlet in her hair, and was wearing a gold and brown chest plate, and elbow-length gloves. She was wearing a very short black skirt with a red sash wrapped around it and trailing off. She wore leg armor that went halfway up her thighs, and black boots.

Curiously enough, all three of them had chains attached to their chests.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked. Okay, this was officially now the weirdest day of his life.

**AN: Thank you guys for reading. This idea came about when I started reading a bunch of RWBY Crossover fics and realized that there are very few that involve RWBY characters going to a different world. Most of them involve other characters going to Remnant. So I decided to write my own.  
****And yes, I will be using the terminology from the English dub of the anime. It's the version I grew up with and I'm most comfortable with the terms from that version.  
****I will try my best to keep a schedule of uploading every Monday and Friday. So for now, the second chapter will be coming out on Monday, March 25.  
****Since I really want to practice my writing, feedback is very much appreciated. Thank you guys again for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hope you guys have been enjoying the fanfic so far. Here's chapter 2.**

Chapter 2: Questions

The last thing Yang remembered was charging at the red-haired man after seeing him stab Blake. All of a sudden, she felt immense pain around her waist and could no longer feel the lower half of her body, but everything went black before she had realized what happened. The next thing she knew, she was in midair and quickly falling back to earth.

She landed with a loud crash, leaving a crater where she landed. She vaguely thought she heard a voice say "Who the hell are you?" But she was too disoriented from the fall to know for sure.

Clearing her head, she looked around to try to get an idea of where she was. She was lying in a crater in the ground in front of someone's house. The house had a large gaping hole in the side of it. She also saw two figures in front of her. One of them was a teenage boy with bright orange hair, black robes, and a massive sword in his right hand. The other one was a black-haired girl wearing white robes, with blood covering her left shoulder. _What the hell happened here?_ She thought. _And where am I?_ She heard a few groans behind her, so she turned around to investigate, and spotted two familiar faces.

"Blake! Pyrrha!" Yang said, happy to see her two friends. They looked like they were still dazed from the fall, but Yang's voice snapped them out of it. They looked at her, and Blake started tearing up.

"Yang?" Blake said, the tears starting to flow down her face. "YANG!" Blake leapt at Yang, wrapping her arms around the blonde and tackling her to the ground, tears of happiness streaming down her face. "I never thought I'd see you again! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, it's okay," Yang said to the faunus girl. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"Yes, I do. It's all my fault."

"What is?"

"Hey!" The orange-haired boy called, but it went ignored, as Yang noticed Pyrrha regaining her senses, too.

"Hey, Pyrrha," Yang said to the red-head. "You're here, too?"

"Yes I am," Pyrrha replied. "Wherever 'here' is. You wouldn't happen to know what happened to Jaune would you?"

"No, why?" replied Blake, wiping her tears away and letting go of Yang.

"I sent him away in a rocket locker before I went to fight Cinder, but I don't know what happened to him."

"Hey!" the orange-haired boy called again, and again he was ignored.

"No, I don't know. Have either of you seen Ruby?" Yang asked, concerned for her sister's safety. The other two girls shook their heads. "Damn it. I've got to find her. She could be in trouble."

"HEY!" the orange-haired boy screamed right in their ears. "I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

"What?!" Yang screamed back, exasperated. _Wait a minute, I've never seen him before. Could he be with the enemy?_ "You! Where's Ruby? What have you done with her?"

"Who?" the orange-haired boy asked.

"And where's Jaune?" Pyrrha asked him next.

"Who?" The boy asked again.

"Do you work for Cinder?" Yang asked him.

"Who?" The boy asked yet again, growing very confused.

"What happened to Beacon?" It was Blake's turn to ask a question now.

"What?" The boy asked, his confusion only growing.

"Where did Adam go?" Blake again.

"WHO?!"

"And where in Remnant are we?" All three of them asked at once.

"WHAT THE HELL IS 'REMNANT'?!" The boy screamed, having enough of their confusing questions. "What is happening to me right now?"

"Ichigo!" The black-haired girl said to the boy, now identified as "Ichigo". "We don't have time for this! Just perform the Konso on them already!"

"That thing you did to that spirit earlier?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes. Just tap the bottom of your Zanpakuto on their foreheads."

"Like this?" He asked, raising his sword and approaching Yang.

"Woah!" Yang exclaimed. "Keep that thing away from me!"

"Don't worry," Ichigo said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"It sure as hell LOOKS like you're gonna hurt me! Back up, buddy!" Yang took a fighting stance, instinctively trying to activate her gauntlets, only to discover that they weren't there. "What the-?" She asked. "Where are my weapons?" When she looked down, she noticed the chain sticking out of her chest. "What is this thing?" she asked as she reached up to try to pull it out.

"No, don't!" the black-haired girl yelled, too late. Yang was suddenly hit by a paralyzing pain, and fell to the ground.

Ichigo took advantage of her momentary distraction to tap the pommel of his sword against Yang's forehead. To his surprise, nothing happened. "What the hell?" He asked. He tried again. Still nothing. "Hey, Rukia," he called to the girl. "It's not working." He started repeatedly tapping Yang on the forehead, and it continued to do absolutely nothing.

"Impossible," Rukia said to herself. "I've never seen a soul have absolutely no reaction to the Konso before."

Yang had enough of the repeated tapping on her forehead. "That hurts, you jerk!" She yelled at Ichigo, kicking him in the stomach and sending him away from her. "What's the big idea?" She was thoroughly pissed off at this point, so she was expecting the usual rush of power from her Semblance activating, but to her surprise, it never came. In fact, she couldn't feel her Aura at all. "What? Now my Semblance won't work either?"

"Mine neither," she heard Blake say.

"Same here," Pyrrha said.

"You!" Yang shouted, pointing at Ichigo. "What did you do to us?"

"ME?" He shouted back. "I did nothing to you! I don't even know who you are!"

"Ichigo!" Rukia called out to him. "Just stop." She stepped in between Ichigo and Yang, making sure they didn't come any closer to each other. The last thing she needed now was for the two of them to kill each other over a misunderstanding. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, here."

Yang finally took a good look at her and noticed all the blood on her shoulder. "Hey," she asked. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, that looks bad," said Blake.

"I'll be fine," said Rukia. "That's not important right now. I'm Rukia Kuchiki. This is Ichigo Kurosaki. What are your names?"

Yang looked at her suspiciously. "Yang Xiao Long," she finally said.

"Blake Belladonna."

"And I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"I'm sure you all must be very confused right now. If you come with me, I'm sure we can answer any questions you have. And I might get some answers, too."

"Why should we go with you?" Yang asked, still suspicious of the white-clad girl.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, especially after my associate's outburst."

"Hey!" Ichigo said indignantly.

"But believe me when I say I'm just as confused as you are. I just want to know what's going on."

The girls talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, trying to decide on what to do.

"Okay," Yang said, speaking for the other two girls as well. "We'll go with you, but no funny business. I've got my eye on you two."

"Oh, it'll be just me," Rukia responded. "Ichigo won't be coming with us."

"What?" he asked, feeling insulted at being left out. "Why not?"

"Because I imagine you won't be conscious for much longer," she answered. "The process of turning you into a Soul Reaper exacts a large toll, so you should pass out any second now."

"What are you talking about? I'm… fine," and with that, he hit the ground, unconscious.

"Hey," Rukia turned to the girls. "Could one of you help me get him back in his body?"

"What?" all three girls asked in surprise.

"You heard me right. I need to get him back in his body. I'll explain later. I also need someone to get his sisters back to bed. There's one on the ground over there and another one inside."

"I guess I'll help you get him in his body," Yang said.

"I'll get the sister out here," said Blake.

"I'll get the other one," said Pyrrha. They all separated to carry out their individual tasks.  
_

"So, he let you stab him?" Yang asked Rukia after she explained what had happened that night. "So he could get your powers and save his sisters?"

"Correct. He became a Soul Reaper so he could keep his little sisters safe."

"I might have misjudged him." The girls had just finished putting Ichigo and his sisters back to bed, and Rukia had used some kind of spray on them to alter Yuzu and Karin's memories. She then used a healing kido on the twins to treat their injuries, shocking the three newcomers.

"How did you do that?" Yang asked.

"I didn't see you use any Dust," Blake added.

"And I've never seen Dust do that before," said Pyrrha.

"Dust?" Rukia asked, clearly confused.

"You don't know what Dust is?" Blake asked. Rukia shook her head.

"Then how did you use magic?" asked Yang.

"Magic without Dust…" Pyrrha said, thinking out loud. "That must mean…Are you a Maiden?" Pyrrha's question surprised the other three girls.

"What?!" Rukia asked, blushing furiously. "What kind of question is that? I don't see what my maidenhood has to do with anything!"

"Wow, Pyrrha," Yang said, grinning mischievously. "I didn't know you swung that way."

"No, no, no," Pyrrha said quickly trying to clear up the misunderstanding. "I didn't mean it that way. A Maiden is someone who can magic without Dust."

"Really?" Blake asked. "How is that possible?"

"Professor Ozpin told me about them," Pyrrha explained. "There are four Maidens that have the ability to use magic without Dust. I was actually supposed to inherit the old Fall Maiden's powers, but Cinder got to her first."

"Woah, that's so cool!" Yang exclaimed. "So you were supposed to become this badass magical warrior instead of just a regular badass warrior? Sucks that you couldn't do it, though."

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"Well, this just raised even more questions," Rukia said. "Our work here is done. Come on, you three. We have to go pay someone a visit."

The four girls walked out of the Kurosaki household, and Blake took a look up at the sky, having made a startling realization. "The moon," she said to herself. "It's not shattered."

The three girls had followed Rukia to a small shop on the edge of town. The outside of the building was an old-fashioned classical Japanese structure. The sign above the front door read "Urahara Shoten". The four girls stepped inside, and were surprised to find that they were standing in what appeared to be just an ordinary candy shop, if very old-fashioned. The girls wondered what Rukia could possibly need from a candy store that was so important. Especially since it was late at night, so the store was definitely closed.

"Hey, Urahara!" Rukia called out. "I need to talk to you!"

"Just a minute!" a voice called from the back of the store. A few seconds later, the rice paper door slid open, revealing a man, who was likely this "Urahara". He looked to be in his late thirties, with shaggy blond hair and stubble. He was wearing a dark green jinbei underneath a black haori coat with white diamond patterns along the bottom. On his feet were wooden clogs, and he wore a white-and-green striped bucket hat on his head. In his hand was a paper fan.

"Oh, Miss Kuchiki!" He said pleasantly. "What can I do for you? Wait, what happened to you?" he asked after noticing the state she was in.

"I was inured fighting a Hollow and had to give my powers to a human. I need a Gigai while I wait for my powers to come back. I also need to talk to you about something."

"Oh?" Urahara asked, unfolding his fan and placing it over his face. He looked at the three girls with Rukia. "And who are these three?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about. They just appeared out of nowhere, started talking nonsense about 'Dust', 'Maidens', and 'Remnant'. What's most worrying is that the Konso won't work on them."

"The Konso won't work?" he repeated, his face impossible to read behind his fan. "Interesting. Why don't you four step into the back? We'll discuss this in there."

The five of them were now sitting in the back room of the store, sitting around a short, round coffee table. Yang was anxious to get this started. She needed to know where the hell she was.

"So," Urahara finally said, looking at Yang and the other two girls. "Let's start from the beginning. Where are you from?"

"We're from Vale," Yang answered. "We're students at Beacon Academy."

"I'm not from Vale, though," Pyrrha added. "I'm from Mistral. But I am a student at Beacon."

Urahara closed his eyes, looking like he was thinking about something. "Never heard of them," he said.

"What?" Blake asked. "How could you have never heard of Vale? Or Mistral? Or Beacon?"

"Where in Remnant are we? How did we end up this far in the sticks?" Yang asked, dumbfounded.

"I also don't know what 'Remnant' is. As for where you are, you're in Karakura, Tokyo. In Japan. On Earth."

"Earth?" Pyrrha asked, confused.

"Why don't you start making sense?" Yang demanded, starting to get angry with the blonde man.

"I think I have a good idea of what happened," Urahara said, again placing the fan in front of his face.

"Then, please," Rukia said. "Enlighten us. Because I am just as lost as they are."

"I imagine 'Remnant' is the name of your world?" Urahara asked.

"That's right," Blake answered, not liking where this was going.

"Well, putting it simply, the three of you somehow managed to cross dimensions in order to get here. You're not in Remnant anymore."

"What?" Pyrrha gasped. "But that's impossible."

"Yeah, right," Yang said. "You expect us to believe that?"

"I believe it," Blake said, surprising the other two girls. "I took a look at the sky earlier, and the moon is in one piece here."

"No way," Yang said. She then looked at Urahara. "Well, if you know how we got here, can you send us back?"

"No."

"Why not?" Yang was starting to lose her patience.

"Because I don't know how. And even if I did, I wouldn't."

"WHAT?!" Yang screamed, throwing the table to the side and walking up to Urahara. "Why wouldn't you?!" She grabbed Urahara by his shirt and lifted him up in the air. "I have to get back to Ruby! She needs me!"

"Even if I could get you back to your world, it wouldn't do you any good."

"What do you mean?" Yang was out of patience for this man.

"The chains attached to your chests," the man said, pointing at Yang's chest. "That tells me exactly what happened."

"What?"

"Those are called the 'Chains of Fate'. If you have those, it means you're dead."

"What?" Yang practically whispered, dropping Urahara.

"The three of you got here when you died. Somehow, instead of going to the afterlife, you ended up here. That's why I wouldn't send you back, even if I knew how. You wouldn't see this 'Ruby' again. You would just go straight to your world's afterlife."

Yang could only stand there, in total shock. "I'm dead?" She asked. "But that's impossible. I'm standing right here."

"Think about it," said Urahara. "Have you taken a single breath since you got here?"

Yang tried to breath, but found that she couldn't. "But how? Guys, do you know what he's talking about? There's no way we died." She turned to the other two girls.

"I think he's right," Pyrrha said. "I was shot in the heart. I fought Cinder, and I lost. The last thing I remember was her firing an arrow at me."

"Yang," said Blake. "Don't you remember what happened?"

"No," replied Yang. "The last thing I remember from Remnant was charging at that guy that stabbed you."

"That was Adam," said Blake. "We used to be together. In order to hurt me, he came for you. After you charged at him, he…he…" Blake was beginning to choke up at the memory.

"Blake," Yang urged. "What happened to me?"

"Adam, he," Blake said. "I watched him cut you in half."

Yang's eyes went wide. "No. What about Ruby? What's my baby sister gonna do without me?" Tears started to flow down Yang's face.

"Yang, I am so sorry," Blake said to her partner. "This happened because of me. Adam killed you to hurt me. This is all my fault."

"Wait," Pyrrha said to Blake. "How did you die?"

"Adam killed me too," Blake replied, looking down. "Or, rather, I let him kill me."

"What?" both Yang and Pyrrha asked, absolutely shocked by what the black-haired Faunus said.

"Why would you do that?" Asked Yang.

"Because I was sick of people I cared about getting hurt because of me! You and Ruby will never see each other again, and it's all my fault! If I escaped from him, it would only be a matter of time before someone else got hurt! Ruby! Weiss! Sun! They're all better off without me!"

Blake was silenced by a slap to the face, courtesy of Pyrrha.

"Don't you ever say that about yourself!" Pyrrha yelled to Blake. "Yang's death was NOT your fault. There is no to blame but Adam. It was a privilege to know you in our last life, and we are so lucky to still have you now. So don't say anybody is better off without you, because our lives are better for having you in it!"

"Pyrrha," Blake said quietly, starting to tear up. Suddenly, she was swept up in a hug by Yang.

"I'm happy you're still with me," Yang said to her. "It's going to take me some time to process what happened, but we can get through this together. I know we can. It would mean the world to have my partner here with me."

"Yang," Blake finally let the tears stream down her face, falling to her knees, still in Yang's embrace. Pyrrha kneeled down and joined them for a group hug.

"So, Urahara," Rukia said, letting the girls have their moment. "Why won't the Konso work?"

"I imagine that has something to do with their souls not being originally from this world. The Konso sends souls to the Soul Society, but their souls don't belong there."

"That's a problem," Rukia said, gripping her chin to think.

"Yes, it is," said Urahara. "We have to assume that they'll become Hollows."

"Unless we put them in Gigai's."

"Miss Kuchiki," Urahara said playfully. "You know putting an unregistered soul in a Gigai is against the rules. It's bad enough you shared your powers with a human, but now this?"

"It's the only option we have. If they can't go back to their world, and they can't be sent to the Soul Society, then it's either we let them become Hollows, or have them reside in Gigai's until we can figure out a way to help them."

"Very well," Urahara said, hiding his face behind his fan again. "I'll get right to work on making them."

He walked into the very back of his store to do what he needed, as Rukia looked down at the three girls from another world, still comforting each other over their mutual deaths.

This mission just got a whole lot more complicated.

**AN: Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 2. I would like to answer a question from the comments last chapter,**

**To treyalexander63917: First off, thanks for the fave! As for your question, without spoiling too much, I can say that all three of them become Soul Reapers. I won't say any more than that. I don't want to give it away.**

**Thank you guys again for reading! The next chapter will be available on Friday, March 29.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you guys for all the Follows and Faves! I'm glad you're all liking the fic so far! So, here's Chapter 3 for you all.**

3: Orihime

"GOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOORNING, ICHIGOOOOOO!" The yell came from Isshin Kurosaki, who was currently flying through the air with both feet held out in front of him, attempting to wake his son up with a double flying kick, but was intercepted when Ichigo caught him by the face and slammed him to the floor. "Aw!" Isshin moaned, disappointed that his sneak attack didn't work.

"Are you nuts?" Ichigo asked his father angrily. "What kind of sick, twisted freak attacks his own son while he's sleeping?"

"You are getting good!" Isshin said, still on the floor. "It looks like there's nothing left for me to teach you, my son."

"Huh? Wait a minute!" Ichigo exclaimed, finally remembering what happened last night. "What about Karin and Yuzu's injuries from last night?"

"Injuries?" Isshin asked, genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What?" Ichigo asked, dumbfounded.

"It's a miracle!" Isshin shouted. He was standing outside the house with Ichigo and the girls, looking at the hole in the side of the house. "A truck plows right into our house and none of us even gets a scratch!"

"What's more miraculous is that it somehow didn't wake any of us up," Karin said disinterestedly.

_I don't get it,_ Ichigo thought, staring at the hole in total shock. _Their wounds are completely gone. They think a truck did all this? Is this because of that Soul Reaper?_

"Ichigo," Yuzu said, as she and Karin had started to walk back inside like nothing happened. "You better hurry up and eat breakfast or you're gonna be late."

"Yeah," Ichigo said absentmindedly. He was still thinking about the Soul Reaper from last night. Rukia Kuchiki. _I wonder if she went back to that place she was talking about. The Soul Society._

The lunch bell just rang at Karakura High School. The students were mingling in the halls, going to each other's classrooms for lunch. Walking down the hall were two girls. They were both wearing the female uniform for Karakura High School: a grey blazer over a white dress shirt, a grey pleated skirt, and a red bow tied around their necks. One of them had short black hair. The other one had long strawberry-blond hair, with two teal star-shaped hairpins keeping it out of her face, and a rather large chest.

"Orihime!" The black-haired girl said to the strawberry-blond. "Did you bring lunch today?"

"Mmhm!" Orihime replied, smiling cheerfully. "Leftover Taiyaki-style ramen with wasabi and honey." The other girl looked disgusted at the thought of what THAT must taste like. "Would you like some, Tatsuki?"

"That's ok," Tatsuki replied. There was no way in hell she was eating whatever that was supposed to be.

"But it's really good," Orihime tried to convince her friend to change her mind, when she was knocked over by an orange-haired boy walking into her. She fell to the ground, dropping her books.

"Oh, it's you," Ichigo said nonchalantly. "Hey, Orihime."

"Oh, no!" said Orihime. "I'm sorry."

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki said sternly, getting right in his face. "You knock her down, and that's all you have to say? What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Sorry about that," Ichigo said. He looked down to Orihime, who was still on the ground. "You gonna be all right?" Orihime nodded. "Here," Ichigo said, offering his hand to help her up. She looked into his face and stared at his eyes for a few seconds before quickly standing up.

"Oh, no." she said, starting to back away from him. "That's alright, really." She started waving her arms around nervously. "I-I have v-v-volleyball! T-That's right! Volleyball!" She turned around and started running in the opposite direction.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki called after her friend.

"What's the matter with her?" Ichigo asked, confused by her behavior.

"What could it be?" Tatsuki said teasingly. "Maybe it was your ugly mug! By the way, why are you so late? It's already lunchtime."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll tell you later." And with that, Ichigo walked away.

"Hey, Ichigo," a teenage boy said. Ichigo was sitting at his desk in his classroom, and a small crowd had gathered. The one who spoke was his friend Keigo, who had long brown hair. He was leaning against the desk directly in front of Ichigo. "I heard a truck crashed into your house last night, dude!"

"Pretty much, Ichigo said.

"Did you clean it all up yet?" The question came from a boy standing to Ichigo's left, a boy named Mizuiro. He had black hair that covered his ears, with a single bang over his forehead.

"What, are you kidding?" Ichigo asked him. "It's gonna take forever."

"Need any help?" came a deep voice from Ichigo's right. Ichigo turned to look at the voice, but he his eyes were only at stomach-level with the boy who talked. Ichigo had to strain his neck to look him in the eye. He was looking at his friend Yasutora, better known as "Chad". He was very tall and lean, with slightly dark skin, and shaggy brown hair that fell over his eyes.

"That's ok," Ichigo said to the living mountain.

"Yeah, Chad," said Keigo. "I mean, you could end up bringing the whole house down, you know?"

"Hey, what class is next?" Ichigo asked.

"Language lab," Mizuiro answered.

"Hello," a feminine, yet somehow familiar voice said from behind him. "You're Ichigo, aren't you?" Ichigo turned around to see who was speaking to him, and was shocked to see the Soul Reaper from yesterday. Except she was wearing the Karakura school uniform. And it seemed like the others could see her, since they turned to look at her, too. "I'll be sitting next to you from now on," Rukia said pleasantly. "My name is Rukia."

"AH!" Ichigo stood up and pointed at the girl. "It's you!"

"Ichigo, what's wrong with you?" Keigo asked.

"You two know each other?" asked Chad.

"Of course not," replied Rukia, still smiling pleasantly. "We've never met before. Isn't that right, Ichigo?" She held out her hand for Ichigo to shake, and he saw a note scribbled on the palm of her hand. "Make a scene, and you're so dead!" The note said, causing Ichigo to just stand there in shock, as he shook her hand.

"Rukia's one of the brand new transfer students!" Mizuiro said cheerfully.

"Nice to meet ya!" Kegio said, in a way that indicated he was definitely going to ask her out later.

"Wait, 'one' of the new transfer students?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, there are four of them," Mizuiro answered. Ichigo looked past Rukia, and was surprised by yet more familiar faces. Sitting in the back of room were the three girls from last night, Pyrrha waving, a pleasant smile on her face, Blake with her nose in a book, and Yang grinning mischievously. All three were wearing the Karakura uniform, and Ichigo couldn't see the chains sticking out of their chests anymore.

"Dude," Keigo whispered in his ear. "How lucky are we? We got four new girls in our class, and they're all super hot!"

"Yeah," Ichigo said, annoyed by this turn of events. "Lucky us."

Suddenly, Chad took a few steps forward, and stopped right in front of Blake.

_Hubba hubba_, Yang thought to herself.

"I like your bow," Chad said simply to Blake, who looked up from her book, a slight blush on her face.

"Oh," she said. "Thank you." The bell rang, indicating that the lunch period was over, and class was going to resume. Yang and Pyrrha looked at the flustered Blake with smiles on their faces.

"Alright, you freaky little nut job," Ichigo said to Rukia. Classes were over for the day, so he had dragged Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha to the school's courtyard to talk to them. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"How scary, you big brute," Rukia said mockingly, causing Yang to snicker, while Blake just smirked and Pyrrha tried to stifle a laugh. "Jeepers, you're not gonna hurt me are you?"

"First of all," Ichigo said, pointing at her. "You can knock it off with the goody-two-shoes act."

"Well, I thought it was pretty good considering I learned it overnight," said Rukia.

"Yeah," Yang said, smiling. "She was practicing in front of the mirror all last night."

"Alright, forget it," Ichigo said, annoyed. "So tell me just what you're doing here now, anyway. Weren't you supposed to go back your Soul Society or whatever it was? And why are those three still here? Shouldn't they have passed on by now?"

"I can't," Rukia said, much more serious now. "Only Soul Reapers can go back to the Soul Society. I haven't the power to return anymore."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"Last night, I lost almost all my powers as a Soul Reaper," Rukia said somberly. "I'm afraid they were all absorbed into you, Ichigo."

"Huh?" he asked. "I wouldn't know anything about that. And why haven't those three passed on yet?"

"Aw," Yang said playfully. "Are you really that eager to get rid of us?"

"Basically, our souls aren't of this world," Blake said.

"So, we can't go to the Soul Society," said Pyrrha. "Our souls don't belong there."

_Not of this world?_ Ichigo thought. _What does that mean?_

"So now," Rukia said, "for the time being, the four of us are stuck in these ridiculous gigai forms."

"What do you mean by 'gigai'?" Ichigo asked.

"It's a temporary body that serves as a vessel in an emergency," Rukia explained. "In my case, I have to stay in this body while I wait for my powers to come back. The girls have to stay in theirs until we can figure out how to help them pass on."

"Looks like you're stuck with us," Yang said, winking at him. "Lucky you."

"Oh, now I get it," Ichigo said. "So that's why the others were able to see all of you before, right?"

"That's correct," Pyrrha answered.

"So," Rukia said, "until all of my powers come back, it's up to you, Ichigo, to perform the duties of a Soul Reaper."

"Huh?" Ichigo asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"You now possess the strength of a Soul Reaper," Rukia continued. "You do not have the right to refuse your calling."

"No way!" Ichigo cut her off, making an "X" shape with his hands.

"What?" Rukia asked.

"My monster fighting days are over," Ichigo said. "That was a one-time deal."

"Understandable," Blake said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ichigo," Rukia said. "You did just fine yesterday. And don't encourage him, Blake."

"I'm just saying I understand his reluctance," Blake countered, looking away from Rukia.

"Yeah, Blake gets it," said Ichigo. "Besides, the only reason I was able to kill that thing last night was because my family was in danger. But it's not like I'm ready to go and fight for complete strangers or anything. Sorry to disappoint you." Ichigo turned around and started walking away, not noticing the disappointed expressions on the faces of Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha.

"I see," Rukia said somberly, putting a glove on her right hand. The glove was red and fingerless, with a cartoon skull wrapped in blue flames printed on the back. "Guess there's no other choice, then. Let's do it." She nodded to Yang.

"Hey," Yang called to Ichigo. He turned around to answer her, just in time to see Rukia charging at him. She hit him in the chin with the palm of her gloved hand, knocking his soul right out of his body.

"Ah, crap!" Ichigo yelled. He was now wearing his black shihakusho, and his sword was strapped to his back. He was looking at his own body, which was lying motionless on the ground in front of him. "What happened to my body? What in the world did you do to me?"

"Seeing that is going to take some getting-used-to," Yang said with a disturbed look in her eyes. It's not everyday you see someone literally get knocked out of their own body. The other two otherworldly visitors nodded in agreement.

"Follow me," Rukia said.

"Hey," Ichigo said to Rukia. He was following her along with the three new girls down the sidewalk towards a small park with a playground. "You wanna tell me where we're going here?"

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "I'm getting kinda bored, here."

"We're getting close," Rukia said to them, pulling a flip phone out of the breast pocket of her blazer.

"Close to what?" Ichigo asked, getting impatient.

"Our latest orders from the Soul Society," Rukia answered, looking at the phone. "It looks like the spirit of a boy that dwells in this park is likely to be attacked soon."

As soon as Rukia finished saying that, the five of them heard a scream. They looked to the park, where the sound seemed to be coming from, and watched the slide explode. They then saw a young boy with a chain sticking out of his chest fleeing in terror from a Hollow with a spider-like body.

"So that's a Hollow?" Yang asked Rukia.

"Correct," Rukia answered.

"It looks kind of like a Grimm," Pyrrha said to the other two Remnant girls.

"Yeah," Blake agreed. "Except somehow even scarier."

"Alright, you three," Rukia said. "As much as you may want to help, you don't have the spirit energy to take on a Hollow. Just stick to the plan."

"Yeah," the three girls said in unison.

Ichigo hopped the fence and started running towards the boy. "Wait!" Rukia said. "Hold on."

"What is it?" Ichigo demanded.

"Just where are you going?" Rukia asked. "That boy's a complete stranger, isn't he?"

"So, what?" Ichigo asked, not realizing what she was doing. "I can't just stand by and let this happen. You expect me to watch him die?"

"Don't be such a fool," Rukia said sternly. "In the eyes of a Soul Reaper, all the spirits of this world are equal."

"If you want to save one person, you have to commit yourself to saving all of them," Blake said. "Not just the ones right in front of you or the ones in immediate danger."

"Those with the power to save others have a responsibility to do so," Pyrrha continued.

"Even if it means laying down your life," finished Yang. _Just like being a Huntress_, she thought.

Ichigo could only stand there, contemplating what the girls had said, as the Hollow grew closer to catching the boy. The boy tripped, and the Hollow raised one of its legs to impale him. Faster than the blink of an eye, Ichigo's sword cut through the leg that the Hollow had raised. Now standing right in front of the Hollow, Ichigo swung his sword in the opposite direction, cutting off another leg, leaving the Hollow with four. It fell onto its back and vanished through a portal. The girls watched him in stunned silence.

"Have you made your decision, Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"Like hell I have," Ichigo said, relaxing his stance. His answer surprised Rukia. "I haven't decided to do squat. I saved this kid because I wanted to. You hear me?" The kid was lying the ground, crying. "What about you?" he asked Rukia, turning around to face her.

"Me?" Rukia asked.

"I seem to remember you putting your life on the line to save me last night. Tell me. Were you really thinking about your duty when you rushed to help me? Of course not. That's the last thing on your mind when you save someone."

"Huh?" All four girls were surprised by what he was saying. Behind Ichigo, the Hollow had reappeared, and started charging towards him.

"At the very least," Ichigo said turning around and lifting his sword up. "I choose to be different!" With that, he impaled the Hollow right through its mask, causing it to dissolve into small black particles.

"Spoken like a true Huntsman," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah," Yang said, simply staring at Ichigo's form for a few seconds, a small smile on her face.

Ichigo walked up to the boy, who was now sitting up. "You OK?" He asked the boy. The boy looked up at him, and recoiled in fear. "Alright, kid. If you don't wanna go through that again, you better hurry up and pass on already." He tapped the hilt of his Zanpakuto against the boy's forehead, causing a brilliant blue light to appear underneath him. Rukia looked shocked, while Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha looked on in awe. The boy slowly disappeared into the light, a peaceful expression on his face. Rukia walked up to stand next to Ichigo.

"You did that quite beautifully," she said.

"Is that what he was trying to do last night when he hit me in the head repeatedly?" Yang asked.

"Correct," Rukia said. "That was called a Konso. It's a ritual we Soul Reapers perform to help a soul pass on. That's what it looks like when it actually works."

"That was beautiful," Blake said.

"Yes, it was simply breathtaking," agreed Pyrrha.

"You did a good job there, Berry Boy," Yang said, hooking her arm around Ichigo's neck.

"What?" Ichigo asked, suddenly embarrassed. "Who told you that's what my name meant?" Rukia refused to look at him, whistling a tune and pretending she didn't hear him. "Whatever. I'm gone." He wrestled free from Yang's hold and walked off, the girls looking at him with smiles on their faces.

Later that night, a man was watching Orihime reading a textbook through her bedroom window. The man was floating several stories in the air, had shoulder-length black hair, and was wearing a black suit and tie. He also had a chain sticking out of his chest. He continued watching her until she reached up and closed the blinds, causing the man to sigh in disappointment. Suddenly, he felt a presence near him. He turned to look to his left, and was filled with an overwhelming sense of terror. Floating in front of him were two monsters, wearing masks that appeared to be made of bone, with gaping holes in their chests. The monsters reached out their arms towards him, causing them to stretch and wrap around his body, immobilizing him. He screamed in terror.

"What are doing? Stop!" He pleaded to the monsters, as they vanished with him through a portal. When he emerged from the portal, he was in a place he had never seen before. He was surrounded by sand, with rock spires jutting out of the ground haphazardly. The sky was pitch black, yet there was still a source of light in the sky. "What's happening?" He looked around, scared out of his mind. "Where am I? I don't understand. What are you gonna do to me?" He felt a presence behind him, so he turned around to look at it. The figure was obscured by shadows, but he could tell that whatever it was, it was big.

"You are a lost little spirit," the creature said in a bone-chilling deep voice. "Now, let's devour this soul." The man got up and started running away, absolutely terrified. "Get him!" The creature shouted, causing the two monsters that attacked him earlier to charge at the man. Several more creatures joined in and dogpiled on the man, while the large creature simply laughed. Eventually, the monsters dispersed, and the man's form exploded in a bright light. His body reformed as the torso of a man, but the lower body of a snake. His skin was mostly black, with red around the shoulders, and white, bone-like protrusions coming out of the tail. A white substance exploded out of his mouth, and spread around his face, solidifying into a mask that looked like a skull. He let out an agonized roar.

"Hear my voice, oh Lord," Rukia read dramatically. She was holding a book, and was wearing a blue short-sleeved dress with black flats. "Help your humble child understand why she was born. And if your divine will wishes it, summon her back to your side. I await your-"

"Jeez, would you shut up already?!" Ichigo shouted in her ear.

"What is your problem?" Rukia asked, looking genuinely hurt that her reading was interrupted. "I am studying contemporary language."

"You're off by a couple centuries," Ichigo said flatly. He was wearing a white tee-shirt with "15" printed on the front, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

"Is that what you were doing?" Yang asked. She was wearing an orange cropped tank top, a leather jacket, black denim pants, and white sneakers. Ichigo couldn't help but think she looked damn good. "I thought you got religious on us there for a second."

"If you really need to learn that badly, I could help you find some good books to start off with," said Blake. She was wearing a white zip up jacket that left her midriff exposed, black pants, and black boots. On top of her head was her ever-present bow.

"Well, at least she's trying," said Pyrrha, her smile still present. She was no longer wearing her circlet, as she quickly realized it looked out of place in this new world. She was wearing a black pull-over hoodie, a denim miniskirt, and red sneakers.

"Whatever," said Ichigo dismissively. "So tell me," he said to Rukia. "How long do you plan on following me around?"

"Until you answer your calling as a Soul Reaper."

"Yeah, right," he said. "And what about you three?"

"It's not like we have anywhere else to go," Yang said, putting her hands on her hips. "You know, most guys would kill to have four beautiful girls like us around them all the time, but you can't wait to get rid of us. It really makes me wonder about you."

"Why you little," Ichigo said, getting right in her face, scowling at her while Yang just smirked.

"Now, Yang," Pyrrha said. "Don't antagonize him. I'm sure he's only upset that we just showed up out of nowhere and haven't left him alone."

"Aw, but it's fun," Yang whined, her face still inches from the scowling Ichigo's.

"Hey, Yang," Blake said. "You might want to move your face away from his. People might get the wrong impression." It was at this moment that Ichigo and Yang realized how close their faces were, and they pulled back, blushing furiously.

"Blake!" Yang said. "What was that for?"

"Call it payback for laughing at me in class when that boy talked to me."

Yang was going to continue arguing with the black-haired girl, when the group heard what sounded like tires skidding. They looked to the source of the noise and saw a car speeding away, and a figure that appeared to belong to a girl lying on the ground. The five of them ran towards her to help. As they got closer, Ichigo recognized the girl as Orihime. She was wearing a short-sleeved purple blouse and a yellow skirt with orange flower designs.

"Hey!" Ichigo called to her as they got closer. Orihime was slowly trying to get up, clearly in pain. "Orihime!"

"Uh, Ichigo!" she yelled in surprise, quickly sitting up fully.

"Did you just get hit by that car?" He asked concerned.

"Oh!" She looked confused. "Maybe."

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?" Ichigo asked.

"Did she hit her head or something?" Yang asked. Blake and Pyrrha simply shrugged.

"Are you gonna be ok?" Ichigo asked.

"Mmhm!" She said, quickly standing up. "It was just a little bump on my head. Don't worry, I'm fine. I swear!" She starting pumping her arms in the air.

"Ah, so she did hit her head," Yang said. "That explains a lot."

"You sure you're ok?" Ichigo asked. "Where did that car go that hit you?"

"Um," Orihime said, looking like she was thinking. "It drove away," she said simply.

"Orihime!" Ichigo said incredulously.

"Oh, sorry," Orihime said, looking down sadly. Ichigo felt bad for making her sound stupid.

"Well, OK," he said, scratching the side of his face in embarrassment. "As long as your OK, then."

"Is she always like this, or is that the head injury talking?" Yang whispered to Ichigo.

"Beats me," he whispered back.

"Yang?" Orihime asked, having recognized the blonde from school.

"Hey there," Yang said, flashing a smile at Orihime.

"And Blake, Pyrrha, and Rukia are here, too?" asked Orihime.

"Hi," Blake said.

"Hello again," Pyrrha waved, her pleasant smile never once disappearing.

"Yeah, and just who are you?" Rukia demanded.

"Hello!" Ichigo whispered in her ear. "She's in the same class as you! Her name is Orihime! Get your head outta your butt!"

"Oh, of course!" Rukia said, curtsying to Orihime. Her voice suddenly became much softer. "Orihime! How are you?"

"Wow, it's almost like she instantly became a completely different person," Blake whispered to Yang.

"I know," Yang whispered back. "And the girl just got hit by a car. How does she think she is?"

"Oh, I'm great, thank you!" Orihime returned the curtsy, flooring everyone else with how nonchalantly she was acting.

"Well now, it appears that you've been shopping," Rukia added, her voice never losing its soft tone.

"Huh? Oh, that's right! Dinner!" Orihime rushed to pick up the grocery bag that she dropped when the car hit her. "My leeks, bananas, butter, and bean jam seem to have made it, too!" She said excitedly, twirling one of the leeks in her hand. Everyone else just looked disgusted.

_Ugh_, Ichigo thought. _I don't wanna know what she's going to make with that._

"How did you get that bruise on your leg?" Rukia asked Orihime.

"What bruise?" Orihime asked, looking down at her leg. She saw a patch of purple skin that was shaped almost like a large hand had wrapped around her leg. "Oh, I guess that happened just now when that car ran into me."

"Jeez, does it hurt?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, that looks really bad," Blake agreed.

"It hurts a little, but I'm OK."

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked.

Ichigo looked down, and noticed that Rukia was kneeling in front of Orihime, staring at the bruise intently. The others had noticed, too, and were giving her weird looks.

"Um, what's the matter, Rukia?" Orihime asked.

"Huh?" Rukia looked up at her. She hadn't even realized what she was doing.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Right! Well, you take care!" Rukia said, standing up quickly, clearly embarrassed.

"Thanks!" Orihime said.

"So, do you want me to walk you home?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, I'm OK, really. See ya!" She laughed nervously, before turning around and walking away.

"Man, she needs to be more careful," Ichigo said.

"For real," agreed Yang. "It's no surprise she got into an accident with how air-headed she seems."

"Well, she was certainly… unique," said Pyrrha.

Later that evening, Ichigo and the girls were walking along a riverbed. The setting sun cast an orange glow over the five teens. They had been silent for a while. Rukia was the one to break that silence.

"So, that girl," Rukia said to Ichigo.

"Oh, you mean Orihime?" Ichigo asked.

"Are you close to her?" Rukia asked him.

"Yeah, she seemed to know you," Yang added.

"Nah, we're not that close," Ichigo answered. "I barely know her, and we don't really talk that much. But she's friends with a buddy of mine, so I see her around. Although…"

"What?" Blake prompted him to continue.

"Around three years back or so, her older brother Sora was in a terrible accident and died at our clinic."

"What?" All four girls were shocked, and had stopped walking.

"He was in a car wreck," Ichigo continued. "He was the only family she had. I didn't know at the time that she was the girl I saw crying that day. I only found that out just recently."

"Oh my god," Blake said softly.

"That's terrible," Pyrrha said.

_Ruby_, Yang thought to herself, looking down sadly. Ichigo's story made Yang think about her own younger sister. How was she handling this? Yang knew that losing friends like Pyrrha and Blake would be hard for Ruby, but she couldn't imagine what she must be going through after losing her older sister, too. _I wish I could check on her. What would she think, knowing that I'm living out another life in a new world?_

"How in-tune were you to the spirit realm back then?" Rukia asked Ichigo.

"Not as much as I am now. It's really only recently I've been able to fully see and communicate with spirits. Why? What's up? What are you thinking?"

"Nothing," Rukia responded coyly. She started to walk past Ichigo, and motioned for the other three girls to follow her. "We'll see you later."

"Huh?" Ichigo asked. "Hey. Where are you going?"

"Back home," Rukia answered.

"Where's that?"

"You really want to know?"

"I guess not."

"Then don't ask." And with that, the four girls walked away.

Later that night, the door to Orihime's apartment rang. "Coming!" She called. Opening the door, she saw Tatsuki standing outside. She was wearing a white button-up shirt unbuttoned, with a black crop top underneath, and dark green camo pants. She was holding a plate of food covered in saran wrap. "Oh, hi Tatsuki!" Orihime greeted her friend cheerfully.

"My mom thought I should bring this over to you," Tatsuki said, handing the plate to Orihime. "It's stewed beef and potatoes."

"Oh, wow!" Orihime said excitedly.

The two girls were sitting down at the table, enjoying the food that Tatsuki brought over. Orihime had a modest apartment, with a sense of organization about the whole room. In a corner was a shrine to Sora, Orihime's older brother. Next to the shrine was a large pink stuffed bear, a gift from her brother.

"Oh boy!" Orihime said happily. "This is delicious!"

"I swear," Tatsuki said. "If I don't bring meals over for you to eat, you always end up cooking the weirdest stuff."

"You think so?" Orihime asked her friend.

"Um, yeah. I mean, what is this stuff?"

"Hey, Ichigo?" Yuzu called. She was standing in the doorway to Ichigo's room. Ichigo was sitting on his bed reading a manga. "You haven't seen my pajamas, have you?"

"Yuzu, come on!" Ichigo said sternly. "Knock before you come in here!"

"Well, I'm sorry I asked," Yuzu said indignantly. "You've been so mean since you started high school!"

"Have not," Ichigo said flatly. "And I don't know where your pajamas are."

"That is just so odd. One of my dresses has gone missing, too."

"Why do you feel the need to ask me about every little thing? Do I look like I care?"

"Ok, goodnight," Yuzu said, irritated by her older brother's attitude. She closed the door as she left. Ichigo started hearing a ringing sound coming from somewhere in his room.

"What the-?" He looked up from his manga, and starting looking around for the source of the noise.

"Hey, Ichigo!" Rukia's voice called to him, opening his closet door. He looked to his closet and saw Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha all piled inside of it. They had somehow installed a bunk bed in his closet and appeared to be doubling up. Rukia was wearing a yellow pair of pajamas with a black checkerboard pattern. Ichigo recognized it as Yuzu's missing pair. Yang was wearing a short yellow tank top that left a good portion of her midriff exposed, and short black shorts. Blake was wearing a short black yukata, with her bow still on top of her head, and Pyrrha was wearing a pair of pajamas almost identical to Rukia's except brown. Ichigo yelped in surprise.

"What the hell?" He yelled at the girls who had been freeloading in his room. "What are you all doing in there? Are those my sister's PJ's you've got on?" Ichigo asked as Rukia jumped out of the closet.

"I'll explain later," Rukia said, reaching inside her shirt to grab her glove. "We've got orders," she said.

"Orders?"

"We're not alone," she said as she put the glove on her right hand.

"Wait, what are you saying?" Ichigo asked. By now, the other girls had climbed out of his closet and were standing in his room.

"Get down!" Rukia hit him in the face as she said this, pulling his soul out of his body and knocking him off the bed, just as a hand reached through a portal in the wall, grabbing at where he was just sitting. The hand grabbed at Ichigo's bed, crushing it, and pulled the rest of its body through the portal. Ichigo saw it was a Hollow, with the torso of a man and the lower body of a snake. It had a mask that resembled a skull, framed by black hair, and a hole in the center of its chest. It looked right at Ichigo and roared.

"Why are you just standing there?" Rukia scolded him. "Do something!" Ichigo drew his Zanpakuto and leaped into the air, evading a swipe from the Hollow's claws. "You have to aim for its head!" Rukia instructed.

"This isn't good," Pyrrha observed. "It's too cramped in here."

"Yeah," Blake agreed, "His sword is too big for this room."

Ichigo attempted an overhead swing while he was still in midair, only for his Zanpakuto to cut into the ceiling, killing all of the momentum his sword would have carried, just as Pyrrha thought it would. When he finally completed his swing, his Zanpakuto simply bounced uselessly off of the Hollow's mask. The Hollow swiped at Ichigo with its tail, knocking him across the room.

"Ichigo!" all four girls called in concern. Ichigo quickly recovered, standing back up with his sword raised. The Hollow raised its hand and attempted to crush Ichigo, but he managed to roll out of the way. He swung his Zanpakuto at the Hollow's arm, but once again did not have enough momentum, leaving a deep gash in the creature's arm, instead of severing it completely like he had originally intended. Ichigo landed, frustrated at his lack of progress.

"You need to focus!" Rukia scolded. "Don't just swing your sword around!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo said, irritated. "Who cares, as long as I kill it?" Ichigo leaped into the air, dodging another strike from the Hollow's arm. He attempted another overhead swing, but his sword clipped the ceiling again, only managing to crack the Hollow's mask. The Hollow struck him with its tail, sending him flying across the room again. The Hollow then finally took notice of the four girls in the room with them, and made a beeline straight for them. "NO!" Ichigo yelled, trying to get up to help them. The Hollow swung its arm at the girls, and all four rolled away to dodge it. All of them except for Yang. She had jumped straight up in the air, throwing a punch at the Hollow, right in the cracked section of its mask. The Hollow was sent staggering backwards from the force of the blow, and the crack in its mask deepened.

"Whoa!" Ichigo was dumbstruck at the sheer force the blonde had put into that attack.

"Awesome!" Yang said, pumping her fist triumphantly. "It looks like this gigai is just as strong as my old body was. Sweet!" She cracked her knuckles, throwing a confident smirk at the Hollow. "Ready for Round 2?" As she said this, the cracked section of the Hollow's mask fell apart, revealing a very human-looking eye underneath it. Ichigo was shocked the second he saw the eye. The Hollow gave out another roar, but this time, they heard what sounded distinctly like a man's voice mixed in. And he was in pain. The Hollow fell backwards through a portal and disappeared.

"It's getting away," Rukia said, turning to chase after it. "Let's go." Ichigo didn't move, instead staring at the space where the portal was. "Ichigo, what's the matter?"

"Something's not right."

"What?"

"I got a look at that thing's face," Ichigo turned to look at her, a look of horror on his face. "It was Orihime's dead brother!"

"What?" The three girls from Remnant were all absolutely shocked.

"Are you certain?" Rukia asked. Ichigo simply nodded silently, the horror of his realization immobilizing him. "Here's a word of advice," Rukia said somberly. "When attacking Hollows, come from behind and cleave their heads with one blow. Don't forget. It's basic theory for any Soul Reaper."

"Why?" Ichigo asked. "What do you mean?"

"It will keep your injuries to a minimum," Rukia explained. "And with any luck, it will keep you from learning the Hollow's identity."

"Wait a minute," Ichigo interrupted her. "What do you mean, 'the identity'?"

"You just saw for yourself. Do you understand? The Hollows were once the souls of human beings no different from anyone else."

Ichigo was completely horrified at this new information, while the three girls from Remnant just looked down sadly, having been told this information already but had hoped they would never have to tell him. "You- you never told me that! That thing I saw was just a monster, wasn't it? It was some beast from the underworld that needed to be wiped out."

"That is correct," Rukia said. "He is just a monster now. And he must be destroyed."

"But it was human once," Ichigo was having a very hard time processing this.

"It can't be helped," Rukia continued. "Souls that hold on to feelings of resentment or regret will sometimes resist Konso and linger on alone in this world. Should that happen, they either become Hollows on their own eventually, or they're devoured by other Hollows and become one of them."

"This is actually the reason why myself, Yang and Blake have to use these gigais," Pyrrha explained. "Rukia was afraid that since the Konso won't work on us, we'd eventually all turn into Hollows."

"Yeah," Yang said. "The gigais are to help keep us from turning."

"I had no idea," Ichigo was still trying to come to grips with what Rukia had just told him.

"WHAT?!" Tatsuki asked, surprised. "He was with ALL of them?!" Orihime nodded in response.

"But I'm sure he was just showing them around town, Tatsuki. What's the matter?"

"Damn," Tatsuki said, folding her arms in front of her. "I never knew Ichigo was such a smooth operator. I mean, honestly! He didn't even walk you home when you were hurt!"

"Well, no," Orihime said. "I mean, he did ask me if I wanted him to walk me home. But I…" She looked down, a deep blush forming on her face, and just sat there, completely lost in her own thoughts.

"Orihime," Tatsuki tried to snap her friend back to reality. "You're daydreaming again." Suddenly, they heard a crashing sound, and felt the ground around them shake. And then another. And another. And another. They sounded like they were getting closer. And finally, a roar rang out in the night.

**AN: Thank you guys for reading! I'm finding that adding the RWBY characters to scenes from Bleach is a lot easier than I thought it would be.**

**I would like to take this opportunity to answer a question from the reviews. To Guest Isa: I currently have no plans to return the girls to Remnant. There are two reasons for this. I would have to rewrite how RWBY's story post Volume 3 would have gone without Blake and Yang. The main obstacle to being able to do that is the fact that Ruby's personality is so poorly-defined that I don't know if Yang's death would be enough to make her give up or she'd press on to Haven anyway. The other reason is that I'm trying to write in as part of their development the fact that they have to come to grips with never being able to go back to Remnant. I'm tossing around the idea of them temporarily going back to Remnant, but they will be living out the rest of their days on Earth.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 3! Chapter 4 will be out on Monday, April 1. And no, I don't have anything for April Fool's Day. I didn't think that far ahead.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you guys for enjoying the story so far! Here's Chapter 4 for you.**

Chapter 4: Siblings

"I just don't get it," Ichigo said. He was still standing in his now-wrecked bedroom along with Rukia and the three girls from Remnant. "Why did Orihime's brother attack us?"

"Not 'us'," Rukia said. "He was after you. Judging from the last Hollow you killed, I'm guessing there's a more powerful Hollow behind this that wants to consume your spirit energy. It probably has several Hollows under its control. It knows where you are now and is sending other Hollows here to carry out its orders. Orihime's brother must have been sent here by that Hollow."

"And you expect me to kill him, now?" Ichigo asked angrily, grabbing Rukia by the collar of her stolen shirt. "There's no way I could do that!"

"It's too cruel," Pyrrha said.

"He has to!" Rukia said assertively, slapping Ichigo's hand away. "You don't have a choice. If you don't kill him, he'll wander around forever. And he'll keep coming after you again and again until he gets your soul. And your sisters might get caught in the crossfire again. Do you want that to happen?"

"Of course not!"

"Then you have to do it."

"Rukia?" Blake asked. She looked like she was deep in thought about something. "You said something earlier that's been bothering me."

"What?" Rukia asked.

"Earlier you said that a soul could turn into a Hollow if they have lingering regrets that cause them to resist passing on."

"Yeah, what about it?" Yang asked.

"Well, what if the object of that soul's regret was a specific person? Could the Hollow be drawn to that person?" The others started to realize what Blake was insinuating.

"Oh, no!" Ichigo gasped. "Orihime!"

* * *

Orihime and Tatsuki were sitting nervously, trying to figure out what was causing the noises they heard earlier. It had been about a minute, and the noise hadn't repeated. They were sitting in silence, when they heard a rip. They looked at the source of the sound, and saw the pink teddy bear fall off the shelf, a tear around its left eye.

"Oh!" Orihime said sadly. "Poor Enroku fell down." She crawled over to pick up the stuffed bear. "Oh my gosh, how'd you get this big rip in your head?" Tatsuki had gotten up and was now standing next to Orihime, leaning down to get a look at the bear. Just then, the two girls heard a loud "boom". And then another.

* * *

Ichigo was hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Rukia and Yang along for the ride, still in their pajamas. Pyrrha and Blake had been left behind to keep an eye on Ichigo's body, and had been instructed to call Urahara so he could take care of cleaning up Ichigo's room and making sure his family didn't remember anything if they came to investigate. Rukia was riding piggy-back, holding on to Ichigo's shoulders while he ran along the rooftops. Yang had insisted on coming along, feeling that she'd be able to help since she discovered she could still fight in her new body. Ichigo was carrying her bridal-style with her arms around his neck, much to their mutual embarrassment. With Rukia already on his back, this was the only way he could carry her.

"So then Hollows will attack their own families?" Ichigo asked to the diminutive girl on his back.

"Brothers, sisters, even children," said Rukia.

"That's awful," said Yang.

"Why would they do that?"

"Hollows are fallen souls, souls that were not guided into the Soul Society by a Soul Reaper. Souls that were not protected from other Hollows. Abandoned, they fall, lose their hearts and become Hollows themselves. Now that this Hollow has failed to devour your soul, it makes sense that he would go after his sister, the person he loved the most when he was alive. Remember the bruise we saw on Orihime's leg? She said it was from being hit by a car. But I've seen marks like that before. That mark could only have been left by a Hollow."

"So you think her brother's already tried to kill her once, and he's about to try it again?"

"That's very possible," Rukia said.

"That's it!" Yang said, tightening her grip around Ichigo's neck. "When we see this bastard, I'm taking him down!"

* * *

Orihime and Tatsuki heard the rhythmic sounds of footsteps. And they were getting closer. They were keeping a close eye on Orihime's front door, as the sounds seemed to be coming from just outside it. Orihime's right hand suddenly felt wet. She looked down, and saw that her hand was covered in blood. "What?" She said out loud. "Is this blood?" The footsteps stopped. Suddenly, Orihime felt something impale her, causing her body to fall backwards, her eyes still open, a shocked expression frozen on her face.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, concerned for her friend. Something struck her and sent her flying across the room, leaving a deep gash in her left shoulder. "What happened?" She asked, grabbing her shoulder. "Why am I bleeding?" She felt something grab her and drag her along the wall before throwing her into the middle of the room. She lifted herself up, sitting on her knees, as she looked around the room, scared out of her mind. "Something's here," she said out loud to herself. "But I don't see anything." She was pushed back onto the floor. Lifting her arm in front of her, she felt something there, but couldn't see anything. "What's happening?" She was starting to panic. "Who's there?"

* * *

Orihime was sitting in a corner of the room, cowering in fear. The monster that was attacking her was hovering over Tatsuki, and Orihime had no idea what was going on. The monster had the torso of a man, the lower body of a snake, and a mask resembling a skull. _What is that monster?_ She thought. She was shaking uncontrollably from fear. _And what is it doing to Tatsuki?_ She looked next to the monster and saw a girl lying on the floor. _Who's that?_ She realized that the girl looked familiar. _Very_ familiar. "That's me. But how?" She looked down, and saw a chain sticking out of her chest, the other end being attached to her prone body in front of her. "Where did this come from?" She reached up and tried to pull on the chain, causing a lot of pain. She heard a choking sound coming from Tatsuki, and she saw that the monster had clamped its hand firmly over her throat.

"Tatsuki!" She stood up. "I can't just sit here. I've got to do something!" She ran towards the monster and shoulder-tackled its arm, causing it to let go of Tatsuki. Tatsuki took a deep breath, clearly relieved at her windpipe being released. Orihime placed her hand on Tatsuki's shoulder and started lightly shaking her. "Tatsuki! Are you ok?" she asked. Tatsuki looked at her shoulder in fear, before swinging her arm and making Orihime let go.

"Get back!" she screamed, backing herself against the wall. "Stay away!"

"What are you screaming about Tatsuki?" Orihime asked, confused by her friend's behavior. "It's just me! What's wrong?"

"It's useless talking to her now, Orihime," a guttural voice said to her. She looked at the monster, and realized that it was the one who spoke. "She can't hear us. She can't even see us." Tatsuki fainted, the stress of the situation finally getting to her.

"Tatsuki!" Orihime called. "Why can't she see me?" She asked to the monster. "And how do you know my name?"

"That makes me sad, Orihime. Have you forgotten my voice?" He leaned closer to her, causing her to back up against the wall. "How could you? It's me, can't you tell?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It makes me sad, Orihime. Very, very sad." The monster reached its hand up and attempted to bring it down on her, but something stopped him. Orihime saw Ichigo standing there suddenly, with a giant sword in his hands, which was currently blocking the monster's hand.

* * *

"I'm the one you're really after," Ichigo said to the monster. "Leave her alone and fight me." He pushed on his sword, causing the monster to stumble back, blood leaking from its palm. It roared and disappeared through a portal. Ichigo kept his guard up, surveying the room when he spotted Tatsuki lying unconscious on the floor. _Damn Tatsuki_, Ichigo thought. _How did you get caught up in this?_

"Ichigo," Orihime said. "Thank you for rescuing us from that thing. But where did you come from?"

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Ichigo said, confused. "How in the hell can you see me?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Ichigo then noticed the chain sticking out of her chest. He followed it back to another Orihime lying on the floor, unmoving. He gasped in surprise, before remembering a conversation he had with Rukia earlier. She had explained earlier to him that since Soul Reapers are spirit beings, ordinary humans can't see them. Only other spirit beings can.

"Then, she's…"

"That's right," The Hollow's voice said. A portal had opened up, and the Hollow was coming out through it. "She's a spirit now. In other words, Orihime is dead." Ichigo gave out a battle cry and charged at the Hollow with his Zanpakuto raised. Luckily, Orihime's apartment had a higher ceiling than Ichigo's bedroom, so he didn't have to worry about his Zanpakuto getting caught. Unfortunately, it didn't matter much as the Hollow avoided the overhead strike anyway, slithering past Ichigo and grabbing Orihime's chain, yanking her up off the ground. Ichigo went in for another strike, but it was blocked by the Hollow's tail, which then whipped at Ichigo, sending him out the window. He stopped himself, in midair, and was now standing on thin air.

"Stay back," The Hollow said, holding up Orihime. She was being held firmly by the Hollow's right hand. The Hollow brought its tail down, smacking into Ichigo and sending him plummeting to the streets below.

"Ichigo!" Rukia and Yang called. They had been waiting outside while Ichigo rushed in to deal with the Hollow.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said a second time, trying to shake him awake. "Get up!" He continued to lie there. The Hollow had retreated back inside the house, Orihime still in its grasp. Yang looked up, a furious look on her face. She looked back at Ichigo for a second, and then ran towards the house.

* * *

Orihime watched from within the monster's grasp as Ichigo was smacked by its tail, sending him careening to the ground. "Ichigo! No!" she shouted. "He's hurt. I have to go help him. Let me go," she pleaded to the monster. "Let me go!"

"Orihime," the monster said. "Have you forgotten me?"

Orihime looked at the monster, a wave of realization hitting her. "Sora? Is that you?"

* * *

"Ichigo, come on, get up," Rukia said. He sat up, his forehead bleeding from a gash he got when he connected with the pavement.

"I'm trying," he said, still in pain, and with a splitting headache.

"Yang already ran inside," Rukia told him.

"Oh, crap! I gotta help her!"

"Hold on. This is not going to be easy. So where are you hurt?"

"Like you care. Forget about it. I'm OK."

"Good, because you've got work to do. Listen carefully. That Hollow may have been her brother once. But now it's nothing but a monster. You've got to stop it. It has no heart, so put aside all your feelings and destroy it."

* * *

The monster had put Orihime down, and they were just looking at each other, Orihime having a look of shock on her face.

"Are you really Sora, my brother?" she asked the monster.

"Yes, Orihime. It's me."

"You're lying. My brother was gentle. He would never do these kinds of things."

"I was so lonely." Orihime gasped in surprise. "You were beginning to forget about me, sister, a little more each day. After I died, you prayed for me every day. I watched you. It was your prayers and your thoughts that gave me peace. It relieved me of my loneliness. But after a year had passed, things changed. You became friends with that girl. And then, you started to pray for me less and less. Then, when you entered high school, you stopped praying for me completely. That's why I was so lonely."

"Sora, you don't understand," Orihime tried to explain, but her brother grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

"Just listen to me Orihime," he said. "If you still have even a shred of love for me, you will not betray me again. Do exactly as I say. I will deal with him. It won't take long. I shall devour this Soul Reaper and put an end to this." He turned around and started moving towards the window.

"No!" Orihime pleaded with her brother. "This doesn't have anything to do with Ichigo! Leave him alone! It's not right for you to hurt him just because-"

"Shut up Orihime," her brother demanded. "Don't tell me what's right when it's your fault I've become this monster!" He grabbed her with both hands, lifting her up into the air. He pressed one of his thumbs against her throat and started choking her. "I should kill you first for the way you abandoned me, for choosing this girl and Ichigo over honoring my memory. I'll kill you!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it, you bastard!" The shout came from Yang, who, with a mighty roar, leaped up and punched the monster in the face. Her punch made him recoil, causing him to drop Orihime. Sora tried to reach towards Orihime with his left hand, but Yang punched it, hard enough to hear a crack. The monster that was once Sora gripped his left hand in pain. "How dare you?" Yang snarled at the monster. "How can you even think about killing your own sister?! It's the job of older siblings to protect their younger sisters! And here you are trying to kill yours! That's unforgivable!"

"Shut up," the monster growled. "You don't know what you're talking about. Orihime is mine."

"Oh, I don't know, huh?"

"I was 15 when Orihime was born. I raised her when our parents abandoned us. To me she has been more like a daughter than a sister."

"You think I don't know what that's like?" Yang snapped. "I had to raise my little sister too when our mom died! So don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. I would never, in a million years, think about harming a hair on Ruby's head!"

"I'm done talking to you," the monster said. "Orihime! Come with me now! Back to when it was just you and me, happy together. If you'll come then I promise I will spare these other souls."

"Don't listen to him!" Yang snapped. "He's just a monster now. He can't think of you as his sister anymore. You're just food to him."

"Are you sure?" Orihime asked, standing up, a tear rolling down her cheek. As she did, the light reflected off her hairpins, catching the monster's attention. He stood there, staring at it for a few seconds, before abruptly giving an anguished wail and slamming his mask against the wall.

"What the hell?" Yang exclaimed.

"Brother!" Orihime yelled. He stood frozen for a few seconds before slowly moving his head away from the wall.

"Orihime is mine!" He abruptly shouted, smacking Yang aside with a sudden attack from his tail, sending her flying against the wall. He reached out his right hand to try to grab Orihime, but it was sliced off by Ichigo, who had finally made it back upstairs. The monster quickly recovered, and charged at Ichigo with its mouth wide open. Ichigo blocked its open mouth with his sword.

"Orihime doesn't belong to anyone, least of all you!" Ichigo pushed back against the monster, causing it to fall out through the hole in the wall. Ichigo yelled and jumped after it. He raised his sword for an overhead swing as he fell towards the Hollow, preparing to strike with all his might.

"Do it!" Rukia yelled from below. He wasn't fast enough. The Hollow quickly turned its head and spit an acidic substance at Ichigo's hands, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. He was then smacked by the tail again, falling to the ground. The Hollow quickly flew down and charged at him, its mouth open wide. Ichigo turned to look at it, and braced for impact.

He felt a splash of blood hit his face, but no pain. Looking at the monster again, he saw Orihime, her shoulder firmly clamped by the Hollow jaws, her arms wrapped around its head in a hug. "Orihime," Ichigo said, surprised at the girl's actions. She fell to her knees, her arms still wrapped around the monster.

"Orihime, why did you do that?" Sora asked.

"Sora, I had to save Ichigo," she said. "Because this is all my fault. The reason you're this way, it's because of me, because I begged you not to leave me alone. That's why you weren't able to find peace. And it's all my fault.

"Oh, Orihime," Sora said somberly.

"Since you died I've always had the sense that you were watching over me. Because I'd asked you to. Even yesterday, when that car was about to hit me, you protected me, didn't you? I have this bruise because you pulled my leg to get me out of the way in time. That was you, wasn't it?"

"That explains it," Rukia said. Yang had finally come outside, and was leaning on Rukia for support, clearly injured. She was holding her side, so her ribs were likely fractured.

"So he wasn't trying to kill her earlier," Yang said.

"Then one day I realized that if I kept depending on you to stay by my side you'd never be able to rest in peace. But if I showed you that my life was really happy, and that you didn't need to worry about me anymore you could pass on," Tears had started to well up in Orihime's eyes by now, and Yang was having difficulty keeping her own tears in check, too. "I never dreamed it would make you sad and lonely. I would never want to do that to you, brother." Orihime let go of her brother's neck and fell to the ground.

"Orihime!" Sora cried. Suddenly, his mask started to flicker, fading in and out of existence rapidly. He let out an anguished cry.

"Rukia, what the hell is happening to him?" Ichigo asked.

"The part of him that's still human is fighting the Hollow for control." Rukia explained. "Evidently, this one didn't become a Hollow by choice. He must've been taken over."

"What do you mean, 'taken over'?" Yang asked. "Who took him over?"

"A soul that is devoured by a strong Hollow is manipulated by that Hollow. And whoever's controlling him desires your spirit energy, Ichigo. So it took over this poor soul planning to use it to attack you. It hoped that since you knew this soul in life, you would hesitate to fight him. A hoped that proved correct."

"That's so cruel," Yang said.

"Right now, the brother's soul is desperately fighting that Hollow for his sister's sake." With one final yell, the mask exploded, revealing the face of Sora. Orhime looked at her brother's face, a small smile starting to form, before she fell unconscious.

"No," Sora said.

"Orihime! Ichigo exclaimed.

"It's all right," Rukia exclaimed, setting Yang down. "Fortunately, the Chain of Fate is still connecting her soul to her body. As long as it's still intact she won't die." She knelt in front of Orihime. "I need to treat her. Stay back. My kido should be able to save her." She placed her hand on Orihime's injured shoulder, and her hand began radiating a green glow. Orihime's hairpin glistened in the light, catching Sora's attention again.

"That hairpin she's wearing was a present from you, wasn't it Sora?" Ichigo asked. "She told me that once." Sora was looking at her, a look of worry on his face. "That's why she wears it every single day." Sora said nothing, simply standing up taller before turning around and slithering towards Ichigo's sword, which had been imbedded in the pavement. He picked it up with his left hand.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked.

"I only have a short time before the Hollow overwhelms me again and changes me back into a monster. So while I'm sane and can still think clearly, I'll end this." He positioned the sword so that the tip was pointing at his throat.

"No, wait, don't do that!" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo," Rukia said sternly. "It's all right. He's made the right decision. Once you become a Hollow you can never go back to what you were again. Passing on is the best thing for him."

"But Rukia-"

"What do you mean 'passing on'?" Asked Yang. "How can he pass on now?"

"It's fine. Exorcising a Hollow is not the same thing as killing it. A Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto cleanses the soul and allows it to enter the Soul Society. That's why Soul Reapers exist in the first place, to help all souls find their way and finally rest in peace."

Ichigo and Yang nodded in understanding and looked back at Sora. He nodded contently at them, before closing his eyes and bringing the sword closer to his neck.

"Wait," Orihime's voice weakly said. "I have to tell you something." Sora lowered the sword and looked at his sister. "This hairpin. Remember the argument we had about it the day you gave it to me?" Sora looked like he was about to start crying. "I said I didn't like it because I thought it didn't look grown-up enough for me. I knew I hurt your feelings. And you left without saying anything else. And it was the last time I saw you alive. So now I want to say what I should have said to you when you went off to work that day." Orihime sat up with Rukia's help. Tears were streaming down her face. "My brother, have a good day."

"Thank you, Orihime," Sora said, a content smile on his face. He plunged Ichigo's sword into his chest. His body began to glow with a brilliant blue light, dissolving into blue particles that scattered in the wind. Ichigo's sword fell to the ground. Orihime looked at the particles in wonder, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw that the hand belonged to Yang, who had tears running down her face, too. Orihime finally couldn't take it anymore, and broke down crying, hugging Yang for comfort. The two girls sat there, crying in each other's arms, while Ichigo and Rukia stood there, trying their best not to get choked up.

* * *

"No way!" a girl said. Orihime was having lunch on the roof of the school with her friends the next day, and was trying to tell them about what happened last night, but something wasn't quite right about how she remembered it.

"Really!" Orihime tried to explain. "What happened was a sumo wrestler with a gun blasted a hole through the wall into my room last night!"

"Huh?" said one of her friends. She had short, wavy brown hair. "Please, Orihime, if you're going to make up stories at least make them sound realistic. Like maybe a pro wrestling match spilled out of the ring." The other girls started laughing and conversing amongst themselves, not noticing that they were being watched by four teens. They were watching the conversation with confused expressions on their faces.

"Sounds like we missed quite the event," Pyrrha said in a rare moment of sarcasm.

"Yeah, seriously," Blake agreed. "Sounds like it was a wild night."

"You know that isn't what happened," Yang said.

"Yeah, we already told you what really happened," said Ichigo. "Rukia just altered their memories." After the events of the previous night, Rukia had sprayed Orihime and Tatsuki with a substance that replaced their memories with something else. The problem was she had no control over what the new memory would be. Nobody could have expected something THIS absurd, though.

"You used the same thing on my family the other day, didn't you?" He asked Rukia.

"That's right," she said. "I did." Ichigo was just standing there, not saying anything. "What's wrong?"

"I'm still not ready to actually commit to this or anything. I'm not so noble a person that I can promise to risk my life for a complete stranger just like that. But, I could never just stand around and watch while someone else was being hurt. So, I'll help you." He heldout his hand for Rukia to shake. "At least I will for now, with this work of yours, as a soul reaper."

"That's plenty noble," said Pyrrha.

"I'm sure you'll do great," said Blake.

Rukia smiled and shook his hand. "I'll be counting on you."

"Way to go, Ichigo!" Yang said, hooking her arm around his neck. "Congratulations on being a real Soul Reaper now! That's so cool!"

"Hold on a second," Ichigo said to her, addressing the other new girls. "You three owe me an explanation."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"Don't play dumb," he said. "Yesterday Blake said you can't go to the Soul Society because your souls aren't from this world. What did you mean by that? Since you're apparently going to be staying in my closet, you at least owe me this. So tell me: Who are you three?"

The girls looked at each other for a few seconds before they all nodded.

"Ok, fair enough," Yang said. "Where do we start?"

**AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I would like to answer a few questions from the reviews.**

**To Guest Isa: TO answer your question: Yes. In regards to the role the RWBY characters are playing, I'm using the first arc in the same way the show is. It's for establishing all of the characters and building the world. I'm giving each one their moments to shine, like in this chapter, where I gave Yang a speech that Ichigo originally delivered. As I said in a previous chapter, the girls will all become Soul Reapers with Ichigo, helping to fix the power imbalance, and once I get to the Soul Society Arc, the RWBY girls will really come into their own. That arc is when Bleach shifted to focusing on one-on-one fights, so I'm going to be creating new fight scenes for the RWBY girls. Thank you for the feedback.**

**To Trey Alexander: Yeah, I'll definitely keep that in mind.**

**So, thank you all for reading my fic so far. The next chapter will be up on Friday, April 5.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Wow. Almost 70 follows. Thank you guys so much for enjoying the fanfiction! I hope you enjoy chapter 5!**

Chapter 5: Chad

"A cursed cockatiel?" a blond boy asked to one of his two friends. One of his friends had a buzzed haircut, and the other was a tall, lean boy with shaggy brown hair that fell over his eyes. It was night time, and the three of them were sitting on the ground in front of a construction site. There was bird cage in between the three boys, with a white cockatiel sitting in it.

"All of the people that have owned this bird have gotten into these really terrible accidents and died," the boy with the buzz cut said. He was wearing a white tee-shirt with blue around the collar and sleeves, and brown cargo pants.

"Wow," the blond boy said. He was wearing a red tee-shirt, with a yellow button up shirt worn open, and khaki pants. He had a guitar case sitting next to him. "That's not a good sign."

"Hey, Shigeo, you want to take him?" asked the boy with the buzzcut.

"So, Ide, tell me," Shigeo said. "Just how stupid do I look to you? Here's an idea. Why don't you set him free or dump him someplace?"

"Well, that would be too cruel," Ide said. He looked at the tall boy with the brown hair. "Well, how about you, Chad, what do you say?" He picked up the cage and held it in front of Chad's face. Chad was wearing a light blue tank top and black pants. "Isn't he cute?"

"Hey, knock it off," Shigeo said. "You know Chad's got a weakness for cute things." All of a sudden, the bird starting screeching and flapping its wings quickly, and a loud noise was heard above them. They looked up and saw that a steel beam had fallen from the construction site and was about to land on them. Chad quickly stood up, got underneath it, and let the beam land on his shoulders. He groaned in pain, but remained standing, blood trickling down his face. Evidently, the beam had hit him in the back of the head as well.

"Chad?" Ide asked, concerned.

"Are you all right, buddy?" Shigeo asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm ok," Chad responded, as blood continued to trickle down his face.

"You're OK?" Ide was dumbfounded. "Then how come you're bleeding, bro?"

"Thank you so much for saving me," a small voice said. The three boys looked down at the source of the voice, only to see the bird still sitting in its cage. "Hello there," the bird said. "My name is Yuichi Shibata. What's your name, mister?"

"Did you hear that?" Shigeo asked. "That bird is talking like a person."

"Yeah, I heard it," Ide responded. "That bird is cursed."

"I'd really like to know your name, mister," the bird said, still addressing Chad. He just looked at the bird with a blank expression on his face.

"Yasutora Sado," he said to the bird like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I'm 15 years old."

"Check it out," Shigeo said. "Chad's interested in the bird."

* * *

"Jeez, there's not even a trace of that cut left," Ichigo said, feeling his forehead. He was eating lunch on the roof of his school along with Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha. "It's nearly healed in just one day."

"Yeah, and my ribs are all healed, too," said Yang.

"Don't be so surprised," Rukia said proudly. "I got the best grades in my Kido class, and I have a talent for it. Healing your wounds was easy."

"You got graded?" Ichigo asked, looking at her. "So, what? There's a school for Soul Reapers?"

"You can call it that," Rukia said.

"Is it that weird?" Blake asked. "After all, we had to go to school to learn how to become Huntresses."

"Don't even get me started," Ichigo said. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around all that stuff you told me about your world. 'Remnant' or whatever. Can't believe I'm shacking up with aliens."

"'Shacking up'?" Yang said with a mischievous smile. "You make it sound like we're up to no good."

"Do you always have to be a pain in the ass?" Ichigo asked, annoyed.

"You know you like it, Berry Boy."

"Why you little!"

"Hey," Rukia said. "Can one of you idiots tell me how to drink from this?" She held up a juice box.

"Idiots?!" Yang and Ichigo yelled. Blake and Pyrrha tried to hold back their laughter.

"If you're going to keep bickering like idiots, that's what I'm going to call you. Anyway, I'm thirsty. How does this thing work?"

"Whatever," Ichigo said. "You poke a hole in it. You use the sharp end of your straw."

"What straw?"

"So, you're all together again," a voice called out to the group. They turned and saw that the voice belonged to Ichigo's friend Mizuiro. He was holding a lunch box in one hand and a water bottle in the other. "You seem pretty chummy with them, Ichigo."

"Mizuiro, shut up," Ichigo said. "Come on, does it really look to you like we're chummy?"

"Maybe. Well, to be honest, you seem pretty close with them. People are gonna start talking."

"Whatever," Ichigo sighed as he poked the straw into his own juice box while Rukia was still trying to decipher hers. "If I really cared what people think, I would have dyed my hair black a long time ago."

"Yeah, that's true."

"So," Blake asked him. "What kind of things are people saying about us?"

"Oh, the usual," Mizuiro answered. "People are starting to think Ichigo set up a harem of girls all fighting for his affection." The girls all scoffed at this.

"Yeah, right," Blake deadpanned.

"I assure you it is nothing like that," said Pyrrha.

"Yeah," said Yang. "We're just a group of friends _yanging_ out." She said that last sentence with a stupid grin on her face. Blake and Pyrrha instantly facepalmed while Ichigo and Mizuiro were flabbergasted. Rukia was still too busy fumbling with her drink to pay attention.

"Oh god," Blake mumbled into her palm.

"What the hell did you just say?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"'Yanging out'?" Yang said. "Get it? Cuz my name is Yang?"

"Yeah, I get it. Why?"

"Why not?"

"Because that was the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Whatever. I'm hilarious."

"I had held out hope that she would stop doing this," Blake said.

"Never a dull moment with Yang around," Pyrrha said with a nervous giggle.

"That's one way to put it."

"So THIS is the straw!" Rukia declared, getting everyone's attention. She had ripped the straw off the back of the juice box and was staring at it intently. "It's short. But where do I poke it?"

"Hi there," Mizuiro said, walking up to Rukia.

"Why, hello there!" Rukia said, instantly putting on a cheery smile that the others besides Mizuiro all knew was fake. "You're, um, Mizuiro?" He gave a small chuckle.

"That's me. I guess we haven't been properly introduced. Same to you girls, too," he said, gesturing to the girls from Remnant. "I'm Mizuiro Kojima. I really like-"

"Picking up chicks," Ichigo interrupted.

"Huh?!" Mizuiro looked offended at that comment. "Ichigo, that's not cool."

"Watch it, girls. He may look like a dork, but he's a real player. Seriously."

"Cut it out!" Mizuiro pleaded. "You'll permanently damage my reputation! Besides, Ichigo, you know older women are really more my style."

"Like I said girls, watch this one." After all, the three girls from Remnant were 17 if what they told him was true, making them all two years older, and who knows how old Rukia was?

"What's this?!" a loud voice suddenly called out to them. Ichigo looked and saw that it was his friend Keigo. "The hot transfer students are hanging out with you guys? How did that happen?"

"Did he seriously just call us 'hot' out loud to our faces?" Yang whispered to Blake.

"Bold and overconfident," Blake whispered back. "Reminds me of a certain someone." They both looked at Pyrrha, who smiled sadly, clearly also being reminded of her old partner, Jaune.

"Ichigo picked them up," Mizuiro said to Keigo. "He's the one who brought them here."

"I did not!"

"Ichigo did?!" Keigo asked excitedly. "Ha ha, what a guy! Good job!"

"It's really no big deal," Ichigo deadpanned. Keigo quickly ran up to the four girls, and stood tall.

"Greetings! I'm Keigo Asano! Welcome, lovely ladies to this garden of manliness!"

"Uh, hello," Rukia said uncertainly.

"Uh-huh," Yang said disinterestedly.

"Whatever," Blake sighed.

"Hello, there," Pyrrha said pleasantly.

"Yeah!" Keigo yelled, throwing his arms up in excitement. "Lunch party! Right here! Right now!"

"Some party!" Mizuiro said mockingly. "Noodles and juice?"

"Shut up! It's the feeling that counts!" Rukia and Pyrrha were laughing nervously at this boy's energy, while Yang and Blake were completely ignoring him at this point. "So, ladies," he said, trying to act as smooth as possible. "If you ever find yourselves needing anything, you just call on me. I'm here for you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Pyrrha said, her smile still on her face.

"Great!" Rukia said, holding out her juice box. "Open this!"

"No prob," he said. "Your wish is my command." He took a step backwards, and bumped into somebody standing behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Chad, who was carrying a bird cage in his left hand.

"Hey Chad," Ichigo said.

"Hey, Blake, look," Yang said teasingly to her friend. "It's Tall, Dark, and Handsome."

"Yang!" Blake said through clenched teeth, a light dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks. "Knock it off!" Chad looked right at her and raised his hand to greet her. She sheepishly returned the greeting. She then noticed the bandages wrapped around his hand. Looking up, she saw that his head was wrapped up, too.

"What happened to you?" she asked him.

"Woah, you got hurt," Keigo observed. "How?"

"I had a mishap," Chad responded simply. "A steel beam fell on my head." Everyone was stunned by that. How had he even survived?

"A steel beam? For real?" Keigo asked.

"My hand got hurt when a motorcycle ran into me," Chad continued.

"Jeez," Yang said.

"The rider that hit me got banged up pretty bad. The force of the collision threw him off and he was knocked out, so I picked him up and carried him to the hospital."

"Holy crap," Ichigo said.

"Well no wonder you were late to school," Keigo said.

"Boy, he really states the obvious, doesn't he?" Blake whispered to Pyrrha, who simply chuckled.

"Just what the hell is your body made of exactly?" Ichigo asked.

"I wonder what _else_ this guy can handle," Yang said teasingly, nudging Blake with her elbow.

"Yang! I said stop!" They heard a clanking sound, and saw that Chad had put the bird cage on the floor.

"Hey, where did you get the bird?" Keigo asked.

"My name is Yuichi Shibata," the bird said, stunning everyone. Ichigo and Rukia looked particularly affected. "It's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"That is amazing!" Keigo exclaimed, getting right up to the cage. "I mean, the way this bird can talk is phenomenal! My name's Keigo Asano! Kei-go, A-sa-no! Can you say that?"

"Are talking birds normal here?" Pyrrha asked Ichigo.

"No, they are not. So Chad, just where did you get this bird?"

"Someone," he said. He paused for several seconds, leaving everyone in suspense. "gave me him," he finally finished, flooring everyone.

"Hold it!" Keigo said. "There you go again, getting lazy and cutting your story short! Come on! That's a bad habit you have, Chad! Now explain! Spill it!"

"That was the whole story," Chad said, sitting down in front of the bird cage. He pulled out a packet of oyster crackers and began to feed them to the bird.

Ichigo was staring intently at the bird. He got a really weird feeling from it. _Really_ weird. Rukia had noticed.

"Don't worry," she said. "You're right, there is something in that bird, but I don't think it's evil. It's probably just a lonely soul. You know, one that didn't have many friends."

"Poor thing," Blake said.

"Yes, it's unfortunate. But we can't leave it or it might become a Hollow. Tonight we perform a Konso."

"Oh great," Ichigo sighed. "That's just what I need, another sleepless night." He took her juice box from her, finally sick of her fumbling around with it, and stuck the straw in the box himself.

"A Soul Reaper's work is never done," Pyrrha said.

"Don't remind me."

_How odd,_ Rukia thought._ Ichigo was concerned about the safety of others and sensed the soul's presence. Maybe he's beginning to understand what it means to be a Soul Reaper_.

"Here you go," he said, handing her back her juice box.

"Oh, thank you," she took the juice box from him and finally started drinking from it.

"You know," Ichigo said. "I first met Chad back in eighth grade." The four girls had all begun listening to his story while the boys were fawning over Chad's bird. "The color of my hair always got people's attention, and not in a good way. So I'd end up getting into a bunch of fights with some tough guys who didn't like the fact that I was different."

"Some things never change," Blake said, making a mental note to herself to _never_ take off her bow. If people just up and attacked Ichigo just because of the color of his hair, she couldn't imagine what people would do to someone who has cat ears. Especially since the faunus don't exist in this world.

"Yeah, people really suck sometimes," Ichigo sighed. "Actually, the day I met Chad, I was in the middle of getting my ass kicked. His timing couldn't have been better. Six guys had jumped me. Two of them were holding me down while the leader wailed on me. They really meant business. Then Chad suddenly swooped in and knocked the leader over. All six guys grabbed a hold of him and the leader started hitting him over and over, but he just wouldn't go down. He stood there and took it. He didn't fight it. In fact, he never fights back, no matter how much people egg him on."

"He looks like he could mess someone up," Yang observed. "I wonder why he doesn't fight back. It's weird, right Blake?" There was no response. "Blake?" She looked to her partner, who was just looking at Chad, but Yang couldn't quite read her expression. Was it interest?

"This juice tastes good," Rukia said quietly.

"It had better," Ichigo said. "It only took you all afternoon to figure out how to open it."

* * *

"I'm home," Ichigo called, walking into his front door. Normally he'd be greeted by his sisters with dinner on the table, but tonight he instead walked in to them wearing pink nurse's outfits and rushing around with medical supplies.

"Move, Ichigo!" Karin yelled, shoving past him. "Out of the way!"

"Hey!" He called after his sister. "What's the hurry, Karin?"

"Welcome home, Ichigo," Yuzu said as she hurried past him. She was carrying a box of medical supplies with her.

"So what's got you both so worked up?"

"An accident," Yuzu said, stopping at the front door to turn to him. "There was a big car wreck down at the corner."

"A big car wreck?"

"I just told you, four cars!" Ichigo heard his father shout. He was talking on the phone, and it was clearly not going his way. "So you can't take that many? Well here's a news flash: They gotta go somewhere! We can't treat them all here, we're a small clinic! Listen, tell your boss this is a request from Isshin Kurosaki! He'll find me some open hospital beds, no problem! Just do it!" He slammed the phone down.

"Uh, hey Dad," Ichigo said nervously.

"Damn stupid idiots," his father grumbled. "They wouldn't know a stethoscope from a cell phone."

"So is there anything I can do?"

"No," his dad said quickly, crushing his spirits. "Just assume the fetal position and stay out of the way."

* * *

Ichigo did just that, curled up on the floor in the corner of the room. He may not know how to help, but did his dad have to be such a jerk about it?

"Dad, we've got this one last patient that needs treatment," he heard Yuzu say.

"Man, this guy's as big as they come," Isshin said. "Ichigo, come over here and give us a hand with this guy."

"You bet," he said, getting up and walking towards them, only to stop dead in his tracks. Standing in his family's clinic, so injured that Isshin had to help him stand, was Chad. Chad looked up and him, and nodded in greeting. In his left hand was the bird cage. What was weird, though, was Karin's face. She was staring at the bird, almost like she was terrified of it.

* * *

Ichigo helped his father sit Chad down on a bed, and Isshin carefully removed Chad's yellow Hawaiian shirt to examine his injuries. Mostly a few scrapes and bruises, but they were shocked when they saw what was on his back. There was an ugly purple patch of skin in the shape of a hand right in the middle of his back.

"Whoa, what a horrible wound," Yuzu said, holding her mouth in shock, and a little bit of disgust.

"So, what happened to you out there?" Isshin asked. "This looks like a pretty nasty burn, but I think I can help you out." He grabbed a swab and started applying ointment to Chad's burn.

_Something doesn't feel right_, Ichigo thought.

"With this wound, you're going to have to take it easy for a while," Isshin instructed.

"That's good," Chad said.

"Huh?"

"I'm fine now," Chad said, getting up and putting his shirt back on. "Thanks for the help." He started to walk towards the table the bird cage was placed on.

"What?!" Isshin shouted. "You are crazy! Do you have any idea how much blood you've lost, son?" Chad only took about 2 steps before collapsing on the ground face first. "I told you," Isshin sighed. "Yuzu, Karin, get a bed ready for him."

"Right," Yuzu said. "Time to go to bed, Mr. Giant."

* * *

Ichigo walked into his room, and was startled to see that Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha were already there. With all the excitement downstairs, he had completely forgotten about his new roommates. Blake was in her bunk in the closet, and was engrossed in whatever book she was reading. Pyrrha was seated at Ichigo's desk, studying. Yang had evidently discovered the joys of Manga, and was sprawled out on the floor reading one. Rukia was simply sitting on Ichigo's bed, looking like she was contemplating something.

"What's up?" Yang asked.

"You look like something's bothering you," Pyrrha said to him.

"There was an accident around the corner from here," Ichigo said.

"Is that what all that noise was?" Blake asked, not looking up from her book.

"Yeah, and I couldn't believe it but Chad was hurt pretty badly." That got Blake's attention. "They've got him in a hospital bed downstairs."

"Really?" Yang asked. "Man, I thought that guy was invincible."

"Trust me," Pyrrha said quietly. "No one is."

"He had this really nasty looking burn on his back. It reminded me of the bruise Orihime got from her brother, now that I think about it. And it gave me this weird feeling." He looked to Rukia, who still hadn't spoken yet. "Did you feel it?"

"Of course," she said. "I felt it all the way in here, and yet I sense no evil in Chad's bird. But I sense that his wound really reeks of a Hollow."

Blake's face took on a look of concern at those words.

"With Chad here," Ichigo said, "I can't run the risk of performing a Konso tonight. He might not be able to see me, but my sister could, and I'd rather not deal with that. We'll have to make sure to keep an eye out for the Hollow and help that bird out tomorrow."

"Well," Yang said, standing up and stretching. "I think I'll call it a day. Ichigo, if you'd please leave the room so we can change?"

"What? It's MY room you're staying in. Why should I leave?"

"Are you seriously suggesting that you can stay in this room while four girls are changing? You pervert." She said this with a sly grin on her face. Ichigo finally grunted in frustration and left the room.

* * *

Chad was lying awake in his hospital bed. Ichigo's father had instructed him to lie on his stomach so he wouldn't irritate the burned skin on his back. He looked over to his right, where the bird cage was sitting. There, sitting in his cage, was the white Cockatiel named Yuichi Shibata. Yuichi was just looking at him. They stared at each other for a few minutes, when he heard the door knob click open. He wasn't expecting anyone to be coming into his room this late at night, so he was immediately on edge. The door opened slowly, and in walked a familiar girl. She had long black hair with a black bow in it. She was wearing a short black yukata, and Chad couldn't help but blush lightly. He couldn't help it. She looked really cute.

"You're Yasutora, right?" The girl asked.

"Mhm," He responded. "And you're Blake?" She nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"I have to talk to you about something. It's been bothering me."

"Shoot," he said, sitting up.

"Ichigo told me something about you. He said that you never fight back, even when people provoke you. Why? Why do you let people walk all over you?" Her hands had unconsciously clenched into fists as she said this.

"I made a promise," he said simply.

"A promise?" Blake asked. He nodded.

"Yes. To my abuelo. I promised that I would never use my strength for myself. Only for others."

"Even if you get seriously hurt?"

"Yes."

"But why? If someone attacks you, you have every right to fight back."

"I used to pick fights a lot as a kid." This shocked Blake. "I was always big, so I thought that meant I could do whatever I want. My abuelo showed me that I was wrong. Power should only be used to protect others."

"But that's…" Blake was speechless. Suddenly, Yuichi started flapping his wings.

"He's here!" He said. "He's here!"

* * *

"Morning, Ichigo," Yuzu greeted her brother. Ichigo had walked into the living room, his school uniform already on. The girls weren't in his room when he woke up, as usual, so he assumed they had left early to avoid being seen by his family. "Breakfast is ready." Ichigo noticed that Yuzu was the only one in the living room.

"So, hey, is Karin up yet?"

"She didn't want to eat," Yuzu answered. "She said she's not feeling so good. I'm worried."

"Really?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "Karin's sick? That's not like her."

"Ichigo!" Isshin suddenly yelled, bursting into the room. "Bad news! Chad's disappeared from his room! He's gone!"

* * *

Ichigo was running through the streets, desperately trying to find Chad. With his injuries, he had no business being out. Especially since he had a Hollow after him, if the burn on his back was any indication.

"Ichigo!" He heard Rukia's voice call him, and spotted her along with Yang and Pyrrha.

"Girls!" He said. "Chad's missing!"

"What?" They were shocked.

"Chad too?" Pyrrha asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Blake's missing, too!" Yang said, concern in her voice. "She was gone when we woke up this morning."

"Hopefully they're together," Rukia said. "Ichigo, do you have any idea where he might be?"

"No clue."

"Damn. And there's no news from the Soul Society about a Hollow. I'm not sensing one either." She reached inside her blazer, and pulled out her sketch pad, showing little cartoon creatures. The left side of the drawing was colored green, and said "Soul Society". The right side was colored blue, and said "World of the Living". Going down the middle was a thick black line, and all the cartoons representing Hollows were lined up inside it. "When a Hollow isn't chasing a Soul, it can hide itself between this world and the Soul Society. When a Hollow is between worlds, it can't be detected. So, we won't be able to locate the Hollow, and by extension Blake and Chad, until it shows up to attack them. You understand?" Ichigo just had a blank look on his face.

"You think I can understand those Kindergarten drawings of yours?" He said flatly, causing her to hit him in the stomach with her sketch pad.

"But if we wait for the Hollow to show up, it'll be too late!" Yang said. "I can't just sit here and let them die!"

"There has to be something we can do," Pyrrha said, the concern clear on her face.

"I've got an idea!" Ichigo shouted. "We'll use Chad's bird friend!" Rukia looked confused. "Can we use that bird to help us detect the presence of a Hollow?"

"No, that's impossible." Ichigo simply grunted and closed his eyes. He looked like he was using all of his concentration, but on what, the girls didn't know. Then, slowly, he began to glow blue. "I-Ichigo?" Rukia asked. "What is this sensation I'm feeling?" Particles of blue energy started to gather around him.

* * *

"You two sure are nice," the bird said from inside its cage, which was still being held tightly by Chad. They were on the run all last night. When Yuichi started freaking out, Chad immediately felt some kind of dangerous presence, and without thinking, had grabbed both Blake and the bird and made a run for it. They had finally come to a rest in a construction site, Chad in his yellow Hawaiian shirt, and Blake still in her short black yukata, much to her embarrassment to still be in her pajamas. "The both of you are. But I need to apologize to you and explain something. Everyone who has ever owned me has ended up with bad luck."

"Yeah, I know," Chad said.

"I'm assuming that's why you've been getting injured so much?" Blake asked. Chad simply nodded, trying not to look at her. He had been avoiding looking at her since they started running, not wanting to stare at her in her pajamas. Blake had to admit it was kind of sweet that he was trying to avoid making her uncomfortable. They had entered into an empty storage shed. It was very large and spacious, with several large windows lining the walls.

"I'm sorry," Yuichi said. "I should have told you."

"Don't worry about it."

"So, please, forgive me? And abandon me. Just leave me here and go." Chad lifted up the cage in front of his face so he was looking Yuichi in the eyes.

"I can't do that to you," he said.

"Me neither," Blake agreed.

* * *

Karin was lying in bed, sweating buckets and breathing heavily. She let out a few weak coughs. Chad's bird kept appearing in her mind. She sensed something when she looked at that bird. Something that terrified her. "Ichigo," she said weakly, getting out of bed and stumbling to her bedroom door. "I've got to tell him."

* * *

The blue particles surrounding Ichigo were beginning to condense around his body. The girls stared at him, shocked at the dazzling display in front of him.

"What's happening?" Pyyrha asked.

"He's trying to feel the soul in that bird," Rukia said. "Even I can't sense such a weak soul at this distance. And the human soul inside it is being partially eclipsed by the soul of the bird itself. For him to hone in on it from so far away should be impossible." Suddenly, the particles condensed into white ribbons surrounding Ichigo. The girls looked on in awe. "He did it," Rukia said.

"I got them!" Ichigo said, grabbing two of the ribbons.

"Wow," Rukia said.

"Way to go, Berry Boy!" Yang yelled in excitement.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Ichigo yelled as he started running in the direction the ribbons came from. Yang and Pyrrha followed. Rukia hadn't started moving yet, and was just looking at him in shock.

_He saw it_, she thought. _Spirit ribbons, rays of spirit energy. But only high level Soul Reapers can see those. Is he really growing as a Soul Reaper that quickly?_ She ran off to follow the others, and hoped they would find Chad and Blake in time.

* * *

"I think we managed to ditch him," Chad said. They were sitting in the storage shed, taking a well-deserved break.

"Yeah," Blake said. "I don't see him anywhere."

"We're lucky you can see it," Chad said.

"Listen," Yuichi said from his cage. "You're both in danger here."

"Don't worry," Chad said. "We'll be fine. I should at least be sturdy enough to handle this."

"We won't let him hurt you, Yuichi," said Blake. "I promise you this." They heard a creaking sound above them, and looked up to investigate it. Blake's eyes went wide.

"I see it!" She shouted. They both managed to roll away in time, as the ground they were just standing on exploded because of something Chad couldn't see. Right before he rolled, Chad had grabbed the birdcage, and he and Blake were sprinting towards a window on the opposite side of the shed.

"It's right behind us!" Blake shouted.

"Let's get out of here!" said Chad.

"Oh, no!" The bird exclaimed.

"Don't worry, we're gonna make it," Chad assured him. The two humans had finally reached the window, and jumped straight through it.

* * *

Ichigo was running, following where the ribbons pointed, Rukia, Yang, and Pyrrha following him. They were fast approaching a corner, when they finally saw the pair they were looking for emerge from around it. Chad looked right at him, the bird cage in his hand. Ichigo saw Blake right behind him.

"There they are!" He yelled. "It's Chad and Blake!"

"Guys!" Blake called. Chad stopped running for a brief second, looked back in the direction that they came, then grabbed Blake's hand and started running in the opposite direction from the others. "Wait, Yasu!" She said to the giant.

"Wait!" Pyrrha called.

"Blake!" Yang called out to her partner.

"Stop running away!" Ichigo yelled. "You need our help! Hold up!"

"Ichigo!" he heard a voice call to him. Looking to his left, he saw Karin leaning against a lamp post for support, looking pretty rough.

"Karin?" Ichigo asked, concerned. "What are you doing here? You look really sick." She couldn't hold herself up anymore, and fell to her knees. Ichigo and Yang were instantly by her side.

"You two need to get Karin home now," Rukia instructed them. "That way we know she'll be safe. Pyrrha and I can handle this."

"What, are kidding me?" Ichigo asked. "I'm not just gonna leave you."

"Just do as I say!" Rukia snapped. "If we leave her here, you'll just be distracted when you fight the Hollow, and that can't happen."

"Don't worry," Yang said. "Pyrrha will be with her. She was the best fighter of our generation back in Remnant." Pyrrha nodded.

"Go on, get moving," Rukia ordered. "Get her home, and get back here quick."

"Pyrrha," Yang said. "You make sure you bring Blake back. And whatever you two do, don't die."

"Will do," Pyrrha said confidently. The two girls took off in the direction Chad and Blake ran off to. Ichigo picked his sister up, and he ran back home with Yang in tow.

"You're gonna be alright, Karin," Ichigo said. "You just hold on, OK?"

"Ichigo," Karin said weakly.

"Don't try to talk," Yang said.

"Ichigo," Karin said again. "I came to tell you. I saw it." She was starting to look really distressed. "I saw the memories of the spirit possessing that bird. His strongest memory flowed into my mind, and I saw it all. I saw exactly what he saw- his mother's murder." Ichigo and Yang were both horrified by what they were hearing. "It happened right in front of him," Karin continued, grabbing Ichigo's collar tightly. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "You have to tell him that if he goes to the other side, she'll be there. You've got to help that poor boy! Please! Don't let him be alone anymore."

* * *

_Damn it_, Rukia thought, panting heavily. She was still trying to chase down Chad and Blake, with Pyrrha running a little farther ahead. Rukia was running as fast as she could, but just couldn't keep up with them. _This Gigai is worthless! Next time, I'll make those R&D imbiciles give me one stronger than this! This Gigai's legs can barely run, and it's heart and lungs are slowing me down._ Pyrrha had turned around to look at her, and stopped to let her catch up.

"Are you ok?" The redhead asked.

"No," Rukia responded.

"Oh, you smell good," a deep voice said, making them stop in their tracks. They both froze, trying to feel out where the voice was coming from, but they couldn't see anything. Rukia couldn't sense anything either. Suddenly, a large white mask appeared right next to Rukia's face. "You smell wonderful, delicious." His eyes looked between the two of them quickly. "Time to eat your souls!" He opened his mouth, and a blast of energy flew out of it. Rukia and Pyrrha both rolled out of the way. They were finally able to get a good look at the Hollow. His large body was mostly a dark blue color. He had a mostly human shape, except for the large protrusions that looked like closed bat wings sticking out of his wrists. It had fur around its shoulders. It's mask was mostly rectangular, with long ear-like extensions sticking out of the top.

"You're still alive," the Hollow said. "You two are certainly tougher than you look. And you can see me quite clearly. That's odd for humans. So just who are you?" The girls stood slightly lower to the ground, getting ready for a fight. "Oh, well, I guess it doesn't really matter. You all go down the same!" He raised his arm, and brought his fist down where the girls were standing. Pyrrha had executed a backflip, while Rukia stepped to the side and jumped towards the Hollow, hitting his mask with her knee. She grabbed the creature's chin and swung herself onto its back, landing in a crouching stance.

"Ye lord!" She began chanting. "Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" She leaped off the creature, pointing her arm at it in midair. "Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!" Energy began to form in the palm of Rukia's outstretched hand. "Hado 33! Sokatsui!" A ball of blue flames launched from Rukia's hand, hitting the Hollow square in the back, the force of the explosion propelling Rukia away from the monster. Smoke obscured her view of it.

_I did it_, she thought. _I got my powers back_. She was shaken out of her self-congratulatory thoughts, when the Hollow emerged from the smoke completely unscathed.

* * *

Chad and Blake had finally stopped running, and were catching their breath outside of an apartment complex. Chad still had a firm grip on Blake's hand.

"Yasu," she said to him. "You can let go of my hand now."

"Oh, sorry." He said, letting go. Suddenly they heard a loud explosion coming from back the way they came.

"That doesn't sound good," Blake said.

"What's going on?" Chad asked.

"It's attacking them," Yuichi said from inside his cage.

"What?" They both asked the bird.

"Those girls that were chasing us before. The monster is attacking them right now."

"Oh, no," Blake said. "Yasu, let's go. We have to help them." He nodded before looking at Yuichi.

"You just stay here. We have to go."

"What are going to do?" Yuichi asked.

"We're going to save our friends," Blake answered.

"Wait! Please!" Yuichi started flapping his wings in a panic. "Don't go! It's too dangerous!" Chad placed the bird cage on top of the wall separating the apartment building from the street.

"Yuichi," Blake said. "That monster won't bother you anymore. I promised you that it wouldn't hurt you."

"It's not me I'm worried about!"

"Let's go," Chad said to Blake, ignoring Yuichi's continued pleas. They ran off back the way they came, leaving Yuichi to call out to them in his cage.

* * *

_My spell didn't even hurt him!_ Rukia thought, beginning to panic. The creature let out a low laugh.

"I see," he said. "So that's what you are. I know that spell. You're a Soul Reaper. But yours was so weak it had no bite to it. That's too ba-"

He was interrupted by Pyrrha, who kicked him the side of the head, sending him reeling.

"What the hell?" He exclaimed.

"You forgot," Pyrrha said, assuming a fighting stance. "You have two opponents."

"Who are you? You're not a Soul Reaper."

"No I'm not. I'm a human named Pyrrha Nikos. But don't worry, I won't go down so easily."

"What do you hope to accomplish? You're just a human and a little Soul Reaper with no powers. I've already eaten two Soul Reapers who tried to help that boy pass on."

"The boy?" Pyrrha asked.

"You mean the soul in that bird," Rukia said. "Why have you pursued this poor kid so relentlessly?"

"I might be more inclined to tell you if you let me have a little nibble."

"You Hollow scum," Rukia spat at it. The Hollow just laughed.

_I really hope Ichigo gets here soon,_ Rukia thought.

**AN: I was originally planning to actually write out the RWBY girls explaining their world to Ichigo, but I could never get it to feel natural and interesting. So I instead decided to have that happen off-screen. **

**I know that the conversation between Blake and Chad could have been written better. Stuff like that is something I need to work on, but I hope you get the gist of what I was going for.**

**Also, I'm going to have Blake call Chad "Yasu". It just felt right to me.**

**I am no longer going to be uploading on Mondays. IT's too hard to keep up. So I will be sticking to just uploading on Fridays. **

**Thank you guys again for reading! I hope you've been enjoying it so far! Th next chapter will go up on Friday, April 12.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Sorry that this chapter was late. I got busy with my schoolwork. I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter.**

Chapter 6: Shrieker

Ichigo and Yang were in his sisters' room, putting Karin back in bed. Ichigo had laid her down and was pulling the covers over her. The stress had finally gotten to her, and she was fast asleep, tears still sitting in her eyes. Once she was settled, Ichigo pat her head affectionately.

"Don't worry, Karin," he said quietly. "We'll help that boy. I promise."

"Is she doing OK?" asked Yang.

"Yeah, I think she's fine now. Or at least she will be when we're finished."

"So she can see ghosts, too, huh? It looked like it was pretty hard on her."

"I haven't seen her like this in a while. How many years has it been since I last saw Karin cry?" He thought out loud. Yang looked at him sadly. "Before our mom died, Karin was a crybaby, just like Yuzu." Yang looked surprised. "After Mom died, Yuzu tried to fill in for our mom, and took over the housekeeping. Karin wasn't good at much of anything. She stopped crying altogether so she wouldn't worry the rest of us. Even when she got in trouble, or the time she broke her leg, she never cried. If she's crying now, she must truly be in pain."

"Ichigo," Yang said sadly.

"You had a little sister, too, right?" Ichigo asked. "You said her name is Ruby?"

"That's right," Yang said. "She's two years younger than me. Our mom died, too. When we were really little. I was six at the time." It was Ichigo's turn to look surprised. "After that happened, our dad just kind of shut down. It was almost like he gave up. So I had to step up and take care of her. She was torn up about it, too. I don't think she ever really got over it. She was always really childish for her age, and socially awkward. Super obsessed with weapons. That made it a little hard for her to meet people. So I was so proud of her when she made it to Beacon and started making friends. But now…" she trailed off, looking down at the floor sadly. She felt Ichigo's hand touch her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he was looking at her concerned.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to remind you about your situation."

"It's fine," she said, giving him a small smile. "I like remembering Ruby. We had a great life all things considered. Thank you. I'll be fine." He nodded.

"We have to get going," he said. "We promised we'd come right back."

"Let's go."

* * *

"If you're really a Soul Reaper, why don't you drop the meat suit and fight me for real?" The Hollow demanded. Rukia and Pyrrha were standing their ground, doing their best to stay alive against the Hollow.

"This isn't good," Rukia said. "My powers haven't recovered yet. My Kido has no effect on him."

"I take it you aren't very good at hand-to-hand combat?" Pyrrha asked her. Rukia shook her head.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Not as good as I am with a weapon, sadly."

"Great."

"Aw, how cute," The Hollow said mockingly. "You're trying to make a plan. Not that it matters. You're dead either way!" He charged at them, his fist raised. Rukia rolled out the way, while Pyrrha jumped straight up. She delivered a kick to the Hollow's face, causing it to stagger backwards. It quickly recovered, and charged at Pyrrha again. She was still in midair, and thus couldn't dodge, so she instead raised her arms to defend herself. The Hollow threw another punch, hitting Pyrrha's raised arms. The punch carried enough force to throw her back several feet. She landed on the ground hard, but managed to use her momentum to roll backwards onto her feet.

_Damn,_ she thought. _I forgot I don't have any Aura anymore. This might be harder than I thought_. She charged at the Hollow, jumping towards him once she was a few feet away, her fist cocked back. She threw a punch at the Hollow's mask, only to be shocked when the Hollow seemingly disappeared. She then let out a cry of pain when something struck her back, sending her flying.

"Pyrrha!" Rukia shouted. The Hollow then appeared right in front of her, punching her in the stomach. The impact sent her flying. She slammed into a wall holding up an elevated park than ran alongside the street they were fighting on. She fell to the ground unconscious.

"Rukia!" Pyrrha shouted in concern. The momentary distraction was all the Hollow needed. He quickly ran up to Pyrrha, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up into the air.

"I don't know what you thought you were doing," the Hollow said, "but this should teach you not to mess with us Hollows." He began to squeeze harder, choking Pyrrha. She struggled for several seconds, feeling the world around her beginning to fade. She was about to lose consciousness, when a fist came flying out of nowhere, hitting the Hollow in the mask and sending him flying. The impact caused him to drop Pyrrha. She landed on her feet, gasping for breath. She looked up at her savior, and was surprised to see Chad. He was looking down at his fist, clearly surprised that his punch actually connected with something.

"Hey," he said. "I hit something. All right."

"Chad?" Pyrrha asked. "But how did-?"

"Pyrrha!" Blake called, running up to her. "Are you OK?"

"Blake! I'm fine. Good to see you."

"You too." Blake noticed Rukia lying on the ground. "What happened to Rukia?"

"She's unconscious. We can help her later. How did Chad hit that Hollow? Can he see spirits?" She looked over to him, and saw Chad punching at thin air over and over. "I guess not."

"Yasu," Blake said. "He's over there." She pointed at the Hollow, who was getting up from Chad's punch. Chad walked towards it.

"Whew, it was just a lucky hit," the Hollow said, not noticing Chad getting closer. "For a second there I thought he could see me." His thoughts were interrupted when Chad hit him again, sending him flying again, this time leaving a small crater in the pavement.

"Alright," Chad said. "I got him again."

"Wow," Pyrrha said, at a loss for words.

_He won't raise a hand to defend himself, but he's fearless in defending others_, Blake thought. _I think I'm finally starting to understand you, Yasutora Sado._

"Damn you!" The Hollow bellowed, before shooting straight up into the air. Blake and Pyrrha looked on in shock as the bat wings sticking out of his wrists unfolded, allowing him to fly. The Hollow started laughing maniacally.

"Let's see you try and punch me now, you clueless human toad!" He yelled. "You'll never even see me coming!"

"Chad, he's above you!" Pyrrha said.

"Oh hey there, new girl," Chad said, turning around to look at her. "Pyrrha, right? Are you telling me you can see ghosts, too?" He looked down and saw Rukia. "And is she OK?"

"There's no time to explain, Yasu," Blake said. "You have to move before he strikes."

"Where is he?" Chad asked, putting his hand on a telephone pole.

"Huh?" They both asked.

"When he charges, you just tell me where he is."

"What are you going to do?" Blake asked. He wrapped both of his hands around the telephone pole.

"When you have a fly, you use a flyswatter," he said, and began pulling.

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Pyrrha asked.

"Looks like it," Blake answered. Neither girl knew just what to make of this.

* * *

The Hollow was still floating in midair, chuckling to himself.

"So many ways I can attack him," he said. "Shall I swoop in low like a falcon, or divebomb straight down onto his head and tear his- huh?"

With a roar, Chad ripped the telephone pole out of the ground and was now wielding it as a weapon.

"What the hell?!" The Hollow exclaimed.

* * *

"Just help me get a bead on him," Chad said to Blake.

"He's dead ahead!" Blake said. "Hit him now!" The Hollow let out a terrified scream as Chad slammed the telephone pole down, hitting the Hollow dead center in his face. The impact sent him into the pavement, causing another crater to form. The impact broke the pole clean in half. The Hollow leaped backwards out of the crater, trying to create some distance between himself and Chad. Blake immediately jumped on Chad's back, and pointed her finger right at the Hollow for Chad to see.

"He's right there!" She exclaimed. Following her directions, Chad charged at the Hollow, raising his fist again. The Hollow was still disoriented from having a telephone pole slammed into his face, so it couldn't dodge as Chad's fist slammed into it. It staggered backwards.

"There! He's still right in front of you!" Blake yelled, still pointing at the Hollow from her perch on Chad's back. Chad took a step forward and delivered a solid punch to the Hollow's stomach, making it double over in pain. "He's hunched forward!" Blake yelled. Chad delivered an uppercut to the Hollow's jaw, knocking it to the ground. It was lying there, clearly in pain. Blake got off Chad's back, and was just glaring at it, while Pyrrha walked up to join them.

"You're done," Blake said to the Hollow. "There's another Soul Reaper on his way here to finish you off."

"You bastards," The Hollow groaned. "If you thought I would go down that easily, you're sorely mistaken!" Suddenly, the three of them were pinned to the ground by small creatures. They had four legs and large, bulbous heads. All three of them each had an arm wrenched behind their backs, and were being held in place by several of these weird creatures.

"Ha!" The Hollow laughed. The girls were starting to panic, struggling as hard as they could against the creatures pinning them. Chad was unmoving. "The shoe's on the other foot now! You shouldn't have assumed that a couple of humans could fight the likes of me! Now which one of you meat socks to eat first? I think I'll leave the tasty Soul Reaper over there for last." Chad let out a roar, and stood up quickly, throwing his arms up in the air. The sudden movement caused the small creatures to fly off his body, freeing him. "What's going on?!" The Hollow was astounded. "You're the craziest human I've ever seen! You can't even see me, and yet you think you can beat me with a little bit of muscle power? I'm gonna enjoy eating you!"

"Yasu, he's at 3 o'clock!" Blake yelled, still pinned to the ground. Chad threw another punch in the direction she indicated, but the Hollow managed to dodge at the last second.

"Damn, he almost connected again," the Hollow said, staring at Chad, who was throwing punches at thin air again. "He has pretty good instincts."

"Over here, Chad!" Pyrrha called to him. "Kick the air right above us!" He did just that, knocking the weird creatures off of them. The Hollow took off into the air, much higher than before. The girls watched as the creatures quickly scattered, leaving the area. Blake looked over at Chad, who was punching the air yet again.

"Yasu, he's not there!" she said. "He's up in the air again!"

"Oh," he said simply.

"I think I have a plan," Pyrrha said.

* * *

"Hey, Pyrrha," Chad said. "If you ask me, there are some problems with this plan." He was currently standing in the middle of the street. Blake was clinging to Chad's back again, and Pyrrha was perched in a crouching stance on his arm. The Hollow was too high up in the air for Chad to reach, so Pyrrha's plan was for Blake to help Chad aim so he could throw Pyrrha through the air so she could reach him.

"It's fine," she assured him. "He's too high up, so this is the only way we can hit him. It's a good plan."

"I guess I'll just take your word for it," Chad said. "Because this seems really stupid to me." Pyrrha looked at him with a hurt expression on her face. "Ok, I'm sorry."

"Anyway," Blake said, trying to get her two friends back on track. "Are you both ready?" They nodded. "OK. Yasu, I'll tell you where to aim, and you throw Pyrrha."

"Got it," he said. She grabbed the sides of his head and started moving it so he was looking dead straight at the Hollow.

"Should be right about here," she said quietly. "There! He's right there!"

"OK," Pyrrha said, getting into position. "Get ready to launch me, Chad. On my mark. Steady…"

"You can't reach me all the way up here with a telephone pole," The Hollow said from the sky, "so whatever you're planning is-"

"FIRE!" Pyrrha shouted, and Chad threw her with all his might, sending her flying straight at the Hollow.

"What?!" The Hollow yelled in exasperation. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with these humans?!"

"You're through!" Pyrrha yelled.

"You're right," the Hollow said pathetically. "I was a fool to think I could defeat you. I surrender!" The two girls looked at him confused. "Kidding," he said, and one of the weird creatures from earlier appeared from out of the fur on the Hollow's shoulder. It opened its mouth, and large purple masses flew out of its mouth right at Pyrrha. However, Pyrrha's Huntress training meant that she still had fast reflexes, so she was able to slap most of them away, stunning the Hollow. One of the purple masses still clung to her arm, though, but that didn't do anything to change her trajectory. She quickly approached the Hollow, and threw a punch at it. She grabbed hold of the Hollow, and used its body as an anchor to flip herself so she could deliver an axe kick, sending it back down to the ground. However, she suddenly felt immense pain in her arm as the purple mass stuck to it exploded. She let out a yell of pain and fell out of the sky.

"Pyrrha!" Blake yelled.

"I got you!" Chad yelled, running towards her and diving to catch her. "That was a close one," he said. She was clutching her arm in pain. "What happened to you?"

"He stuck something to me and it exploded," she said to him through grit teeth.

"What did you do to her?" Blake demanded of the Hollow, who was just getting up off the ground.

"heh heh," he chuckled. "You like it? That was one of my leech bombs."

"Leech bombs?" Blake asked.

"Yes. Diabolical, isn't it?" If the Hollow's face could be seen behind his mask, the girls were certain he would be sneering at them. "They latch on, and when I produce a certain frequency with my tongue, they respond by detonating themselves." He started laughing maniacally again.

Chad stood up and walked towards him, a look of fierce determination on his face. He stopped right in front of the Hollow and stared him down.

"Oh, you want some more, eh, hot shot?" the Hollow asked. "Well first I have someone here you might want to see." The Hollow stepped aside, revealing Yuichi in his cage and Rukia. She had regained consciousness, and both she and Yuichi were covered in the little creatures that spawned the leeches.

"Rukia!" Pyrrha called.

"Yuichi!" Blake called. _So that's where those things went_, she thought. _They were grabbing Yuichi and Rukia as hostages_.

"I'm so sorry, mister," Yuichi said sadly.

"It's OK," Chad said.

"What did I miss?" Rukia asked. "What are these things?"

"Those things surrounding you spawn exploding leeches," Pyrrha informed her.

"What?" Rukia asked, going pale. The Hollow laughed.

"With leech bombs on the bird cage and the Soul Reaper, you'll do what I say. Because if they explode, there won't be enough of your friends left to spread on a cracker."

"Bastard," Blake spat.

"Now let's play a new game," The Hollow said. "Musclehead stays put while I play tag with the little ladies."

"Just do as he says," Rukia told them. "Don't think for a second that he won't blow us up."

"What did he say?" Chad asked.

"He wants you to stay still while he chases me and Pyrrha," Blake said. "We don't have any other choice."

"But what about you two?" he asked.

Pyrrha stood up, holding her arm. A fresh trail of blood was trickling down it. "We can take care of ourselves," Pyrrha said. "I made a promise to get you both out of here safe. We'll be fine."

"Good luck," Chad said.

"Thanks," the girls said. They turned around and were about to start running.

"Pyrrha!" Rukia called. "Catch!" Rukia threw her glove to Pyrrha, who caught it. She looked at it, gave Rukia a knowing nod, and put it in her blazer pocket. The girls then took off in a run away from Chad, Rukia and The Hollow. They had dozens of the leech spawners on their tail.

"I'm going to enjoy every second of this," the Hollow said before taking off after them.

* * *

Blake and Pyrrha were running down an alleyway as fast as their legs could carry them. There were leech spawners converging on either side of the girls. They spit a stream of leeches at them, and Pyrrha rolled to dodge. Blake chose to jump and landed on a nearby fence. However, there was another spawner waiting for her, and it spit several leeches at her, with a few landing on her head, arm, waist, and thigh.

_Oh, no_, she thought. The Hollow came right up behind her, his forked tongue sticking out.

"This might sting a little," the Hollow said, before resonating a sound and making the leeches explode, causing Blake to cry out in pain. She was leaning up against the fence for support, holding onto her arm, blood dripping onto the ground. Her black yukata had tears on the right sleeve, her right hip, and her right thigh.

"My, my," the Hollow said. "Don't you look pretty? All covered in your own blood. I think red becomes you, girlie. Let's see some more of it!" He grabbed one of the spawners and threw it at her. She braced to get hit by it, but Pyrrha kicked it away just in time.

"Come on!" Pyrrha yelled, pulling Blake along. The Hollow ran after them, cackling the whole way.

"Faster! Faster!" The Hollow yelled playfully. The spawners chasing them were now constantly spitting leeches at them, narrowly missing the girls. "How long before you get tired and blow up? Of course you could turn around and actually fight me! Put all that bluster about being able to take care of yourselves to the test!" The girls had come up to a waterway, and were forced to stop. "Aw, done already?" the Hollow asked, disappointment clear in his tone. He wanted to have a little more fun. The girls turned around, and saw two figures behind the Hollow. They were running towards it. "How boring. I didn't think you would give up so easily. Come on, run some more. I was having fun."

"We haven't given up," Pyrrha said. "There's just no need to run from you anymore."

"What are you blabbering about?" The Hollow asked, when all of a sudden he was struck in the back of the head by a blond girl. The punch sent him face-first into the pavement. The blond girl ran past him, and an orange-haired boy stepped on the back of his head, pinning him to the ground.

"BLAKE!" Yang yelled, running up to her injured partner. "Are you OK?"

"I am now," she said, clutching her wounded arm.

"What the hell, Pyrrha?" Ichigo asked. "Why is Blake more injured than you are? I thought you promised you wouldn't screw this up."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that he uses exploding leeches?"

"He uses WHAT?!" Yang asked, looking at Blake in concern.

"I'll be fine," Blake assured you. "It's nothing too serious."

"Where are Chad and Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

"They should be safe," Pyrrha answered. "The Hollow made them stay put while he chased us."

"That's good," Ichigo said, relieved.

"How touching," the Hollow said. "Do you plan to keep standing on my head all day?" He stood up, causing Ichigo to jump off his head and land next to the girls. "Who are you anyway? How the hell can so many humans see me?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Soul Reaper."

"Yang Xiao Long, Huntress in training."

"A substitute Soul Reaper, eh?" the Hollow asked. "Crap. I screwed up." Pyrrha had pulled Rukia's glove out of her blazer pocket and put it on her hand. "When you split up back there, I should have gone after you!" The leech spawners spit what must have been hundreds of the leeches at them, with the Hollow resonating a sound with his tongue. Yang grabbed Blake and carried her away from the explosion, while Pyrrha hit Ichigo in the chest with Rukia's glove, causing Ichigo to transform. She then ran out of the way and Ichigo jumped into the air, the smoke of the explosion obscuring him from view.

"Where'd you go?" The Hollow asked. He reacted just in time as Ichigo descended, his Zanpakuto drawn. Ichigo delivered an overhead slash as he fell, only managing to graze the Hollow's arm as he defended himself, drawing a small amount of blood. The Hollow jumped and landed a few feet away, chuckling to himself. "You're too slow," The Hollow said. "But I can tell your soul is going to be—"

He was interrupted by a punch from Yang, sending him flying. He landed several feet away.

"What the hell?" He asked, exasperated. "I think she hits harder than musclehead."

"Don't forget about me!" She yelled, cracking her knuckles.

"Oh, why won't you people just die already?" The Hollow said, clearly growing incredibly frustrated. He summoned another group of leech spawners to his side.

"Now I got it," Ichigo said. "You used these leech bombs to tie up Chad and Rukia, then attacked the girls."

"What a coward," Yang glared at the Hollow. "You're gonna pay for hurting my friends!"

"The only price I'm going to pay is indigestion," the Hollow snickered, "once I'm finished eating all these tasty souls."

* * *

"Huh?" Chad was greeted to an odd sight. The leech spawners that were holding Rukia and Yuichi captive had simply run off eventually, likely returning to the Hollow to help him fight. Chad had run in the direction he saw Blake and Pyrrha run off in, holding Yuichi's bird cage, Rukia in tow. He had finally caught up with them. Pyrrha was leaning against a pole, still holding the wound on her arm from the exploding leech from earlier. Sitting on the ground leaning against a fence was Blake. She had blood on her face, arm, and leg, and her yukata was torn in several places, causing Chad to immediately blush. The weirdest part, though, was Ichigo. He was lying face-down next to them, completely unmoving. To be honest, he looked dead.

"Ichigo?" Chad asked. "Ichigo, what's wrong?" The sound of his voice got Blake's attention.

"Yasu! Rukia!" she called, relieved.

"Glad to see you're both OK," Pyrrha said.

"What's going on?" Chad asked. "What's with Ichigo?"

"Don't worry about him," Rukia said. "Ichigo is fine. He's fighting to protect us all."

* * *

Ichigo and Yang's fight with the Hollow had taken them a fair distance away from the others. The pair were just doing their best to dodge the leeches. They barely had any chances to attack him. It was time to change that. They turned around to face the leech spawners that had jumped towards them. Ichigo sliced three of them in half and Yang squashed two with her fists. The spawners spilled leeches where they fell, until there were a few small puddles of them. The Hollow chuckled again.

"Pretty good moves. But aren't you forgetting something? The leeches spilling from their guts are still live ammunition." He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, resonating his sound again. Suddenly, all of the leeches surrounding the duo exploded. Yang managed to roll away in time, and Ichigo jumped into the air, his Zanpakuto raised. He brought it down, but the Hollow moved its head out of the way, causing Ichigo's sword to be embedded in its shoulder.

"Tell me," Ichigo growled. "Before I slice and dice you, you killed the mother of that boy inside the cockatiel, didn't you? You might as well admit it. Because either way, you're going down."

* * *

"Is that true?" Blake asked. Evidently, Chad and the girls were having a similar conversation with Yuichi.

"I'm afraid it's all my fault," Yuichi said. "I just wanted to bring my mother back to life."

"Yuichi," Chad said sadly.

"I didn't mean for all those people to get hurt. If I'd known about that, I never would've done it. All I wanted was to see my mother again. I'm sorry."

"Wait," Rukia said. "So you really accepted such a lie? That if you did what he said, that he could bring your mother back to life? How could you believe that?"

* * *

"Because he wanted to believe it!" The Hollow said to Ichigo, who happened to have asked the Hollow the same question Rukia asked Yuichi.

"You bastard!" Ichigo and Yang said simultaneously.

"Yes. I killed the brat's mother when I was still alive. You might have heard about me. I was all over the T.V., the radio, everywhere. I was a famous serial killer. They never would've caught me, either. I was too smart. I'd still be out there hunting today, but as it turned out, the kid's mother was my last score.

"She was a sweet one. I stabbed her eight times, and she ran and ran, bleeding. And when she couldn't run anymore, she still tried to protect the kid. I really got off on it. But that's when everything went sour. I chased her onto the balcony and finished her off. Then that stupid kid grabbed my shoelaces. I lost my balance and went over the railing twenty stories down. Who'd have thought I'd get knocked off by a snot-nosed kid?

"Suddenly I was dead, I was pissed, and I wanted payback. The punk kid was still alive, so I sucked out his soul and stuck it in the stupid cockatiel. Then I made him a deal. I told him if he could run from me in that bird body for three months, I'd bring his precious mommy back to life."

"How could you do that?" Ichigo asked.

"I couldn't do that, you moron!" The Hollow snapped back. "Bring a dead person back to life? Nothing could have brought her back after what I did to her. I just said it to get the brat to play along. And it worked like a charm, too. He runs from me, and I get the thrill of the chase. Plus, there's the added pleasure of slaughtering everyone who tries to help him. And every time he squeals and begs me, 'don't hurt them'. And he wants to quit our little game. That's when I use my clincher. 'Mommy's waiting for you to save her'. What a laugh!" Ichigo's face contorted into a face of sheer rage. "But it always works and he's off running again. 'Mama, Mama'! Hahahahaha!" The Hollow grabbed Ichigo's sword, and pulled it off his shoulder. "But enough about me. Now it's time to kill you!" The Hollow jumped back and threw two leechs bombs at Ichigo. However Yang stepped in front of him and caught one of them. "You're defense is weak!" He stuck out his tongue to attempt to detonate the bomb Yang was holding, but she charged at him, punching through his mask with the bomb still in her hand. She had knocked the front teeth off his mask, and was holding the bomb inside the Hollow's mouth.

"YOU BASTARD!" Yang screamed. She looked at the Hollow right in the eyes, and that's when he saw it. Her eyes had changed color. Instead of their usual lilac, her eyes were now a bright crimson. "Not so tough when you can't use your bombs, huh?" she said with pure venom in her voice. The Hollow tried to say something, but it only came out as gurgled noises. "You use your tongue to make them explode, right? Then I'll just take it from you!" She grabbed hold of his tongue and ripped it right out of his face, causing him to scream in pain.

"My tongue!" He screamed, stunned from the intense pain. "You bitch!"

"Ichigo, now!" Yang yelled. Ichigo ran past her, and delivered a vicious slash to the Hollow's mask. A faint glow rose up from the slash, and the duo expected the usual sight of the Hollow's body disappearing into blue particles. Instead, the Hollow screamed, and a bright pillar of light exploded out from the Hollow's mask. Behind him, a giant gate appeared. It was a dark grey color, and each door had a large skeleton on it positioned so it looked like the skeletons were gripping the seams between the two doors. They were held closed with several chains. Ichigo and Yang took a step back in shock, and hadn't noticed that Rukia, Blake, and Pyrrha had caught up with them, their wounds healed thanks to Rukia's Kido. Chad wasn't with them, as he stayed with Yuichi.

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo asked, beginning to get scared.

"Don't worry," Rukia responded. "They're the Gates of Hell. But they're opening only for him." As she spoke, the gates slowly opened, breaking the chains, revealing a horrifying, evil red glow behind them. The teens could swear they heard screaming coming from the other side of the gate. "The Zanpakuto can only wash away sins a soul committed as a Hollow. Those who commit terrible crimes while they're still alive go to Hell." The gates were fully open now, their very presence rocking the teens to their cores. They could clearly hear the screams of the damned now, their cries mixing with the screams of the Hollow in front of them. The pressure was too much for Blake, who fell to her knees, the horror evident on her face.

"So that's Hell," Pyrrha said slowly, trying her best to stay standing. The Hollow continued screaming, only to stop as a giant hand suddenly reached through the gate and impaled him on a massive sword.

"Holy shit!" Yang exclaimed, and watched as the sword pulled the Hollow back through the gates to his ultimate fate. The gates slowly closed behind him. Once they were fully closed, the ground began to shake as cracks started forming on their surface. The cracks spread until they completely covered the surface of the gates, before shattering. The teens could only stare in shock and imagine the horrors that must lie behind that gate.

* * *

It was dusk the setting sun casting a yellow glow over everything. Rukia was crouched in front of the bird cage. Blake and Chad were standing off to the side. Ichigo, Yang, and Pyrrha were standing closer to Rukia, watching her work. She looked disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." Everybody's faces fell at this. "His Chain of Fate has been severed. There's no sign of it. Without it, there's no way I can return him to his body."

"Oh, no," Yuichi said sadly.

"Yuichi," Chad said. Blake just looked down at the ground.

"Don't be sad," Rukia said. "The Soul Society is a wonderful place that's very peaceful." Yuichi just continued to look down sadly. "You'll be happy there. You'll never be hungry, and you'll never grow old. In fact, it's a much better place to live than in this world."

"So now you're suddenly an expert on life in this world?" Ichigo asked.

"What?" Rukia asked, genuinely confused.

"Besides, that's not what he wants to hear," Yang said. Ichigo looked at Yuichi.

"When you pass over, you'll finally be reunited with your mother," Ichigo said. Yuichi's face instantly lit up. "Maybe we can't bring her back to life, but she is on the other side waiting for you. And this time, it really is true."

"Ichigo," Yang said, smiling at him. Yuichi turned to look at Chad and Blake.

"Mister Sado? Miss Belladonna?" Yuchi said. "Thank you for everything you did for me. You carried me everywhere in your arms and kept me safe. And you were even brave enough to face a terrible monster and protect me from it.

"Don't even mention it," Chad said.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Blake said with a smile.

"I guess it's time for me to go now," Yuichi said. "I don't know what else to say now except 'thank you'. All of you."

"Yuichi?" Chad addressed him. "Someday, when I die and pass over too, would it be OK with you if sometimes I carried you around again?" Yuichi looked at him, and gave the brightest, warmest look Chad had ever seen him give, and simply nodded happily. Blake couldn't help but tear up. Everybody else looked at each other with satisfied smiles on their faces.

"Well then," Ichigo said, approaching Yuichi and drawing his Zanpakuto. "If you're ready, let's begin the Konso." He pressed the hilt of his sword against the bird cage, and the others watched as it was surrounded by a bright blue light, before a single black butterfly emerged and flew away.

**AN: I hope you guys enjoyed the fight with Shrieker. Feedback for how I can make these fights more interesting is more than welcome. **

**Thank you guys again for reading. I really appreciate it.**

**If everything goes well, the next chapter should be going up on Friday, April 19.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I've really got to stop announcing when these chapters come out, since I can't maintain a schedule. Regardless, I can't believe I'm already up to 90 follows! Thank you guys so much! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

Chapter 7: A Mod Soul?

Rukia was sitting on the roof of the Kurosaki Clinic, looking out over Karakura, the lights of the city dancing in the night air. She was staring intently at a device that looked like a handheld lighter. It had four lights along the side, and the one on the very bottom was flashing.

"Don't have much left," she thought out loud. She lifted up her hand to look at her palm. She tried to move her wrist, but she could only move it in sudden jerks, causing a cracking sound with every movement. "And this thing isn't any better," she looked at her hand forlornly. "I'd say it's almost time to replenish." She hated to admit it, but her gigai was getting harder and harder to move. She needed to solve this problem fast. But, sadly, it meant going to see _him_ again.

* * *

Ichigo walked into his room with a plate full of rice balls in his hand. His school had officially changed to the summer uniform, so he had ditched the grey blazer, and was wearing a white button-up short-sleeved dress shirt. Lately he had taken up the habit of bringing food to the four girls staying in his closet. He walked up to the closet door, seeing that it was still closed. He rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Hey, wake up in there," he called. "I brought you some breakfast."

The door opened up, revealing Yang on the bottom bunk, and Blake and Pyrrha on the top bunk. They were already in their school uniforms, their grey blazers being replaced with white short-sleeved blouses. Strangely, Rukia wasn't with them.

"Where is she?"

"I dunno," Yang said.

"I think she said she had an errand to run," Blake said, not looking up from her book.

"She could have at least let me know if she was wasn't gonna be here," Ichigo said, frustrated. "Then I wouldn't have grabbed an extra rice ball for her. Oh, well, more for me," he said, passing the plate around to the remaining three girls. They each took a rice ball off the plate.

"Thank you very much," Pyrrha said politely.

"Thanks," Blake said, nose still in her book.

"Thanks, Berry Boy," Yang said playfully, causing Ichigo's face to twitch in annoyance before she leaned back against the wall to eat her rice ball. Ichigo couldn't help but notice that her uniform's blouse seemed a little tight on her, and before he knew it, he was staring at her chest. And was the skirt always that short? She noticed where his eyes were wandering. "My eyes are up here," she said, narrowing her eyes. His face instantly turned as red as Pyrrha's hair and he quickly turned around and shoved a rice ball in his mouth.

* * *

"Ichigo's been acting a little weird lately, hasn't he?" Yuzu asked. She and Karin were seated at the table, enjoying their breakfast. Just a few minutes ago, their brother had walked in, stacked a plate full of rice balls and went back to his room. "He's been eating like a horse for one thing. And he spends all of his time in his room."

"The boy IS 15 now," their father said, his tone indicating that he thought what he was saying was profound. The twins knew better. "An impressionable lad, in the springtime of his youth, would barricade himself in his room for one reason, and one reason only."

"Knock it off!" Ichigo yelled. He had appeared suddenly, and kicked his father in the face, knocking him to the floor. "Quit analyzing me, you pervert!"

"What's the matter, son?" Isshin asked, getting up and getting right in Ichigo's face. "It's just because I'm your father, isn't it? What's wrong with a little parental understanding?"

"Understanding, my ass!" Ichigo yelled, throwing a punch at his father. Before long, it had devolved into a full-fledged fist fight.

"Guys, your breakfast is gonna get cold," Yuzu called to them.

"Quiet morning, huh?" Karin said sarcastically.

* * *

"Now up to bat, Jinta Hanakari!" Said a red-haired boy. He was standing outside of Urahara's Shop with a broom in his hand. He was holding the broom like a baseball bat, with a baseball in his other hand. His red hair stuck out to the sides of his head. He was wearing a white tee-shirt and blue baggy shorts. There was a girl outside with him, and she was using her broom as it was originally intended. "Here comes the windup and the pitch," he said as he threw the baseball in the air, getting his broom in position. "With a perfect swing, he lets it fly! Home run!" He yelled excitedly, swinging the broom and missing the ball. The girl turned around to look at him. She had black hair done up in pigtails, with bangs framing her face. She had two long strands of hair flowing down the center of her face, parting on either side of her mouth. Her cheeks had a permanent rosy blush to them. She was wearing a white tee-shirt, and a pink skirt with white dots.

"Please, Jinta," the girl said. Her voice was quiet, with an almost permanently timid quality to it. "You have to get back to work or we're going to be in trouble with Tessai again."

"Shut up, Ururu!" Jinta yelled, pointing the broom at her angrily. "I'll start when I'm ready. Tessai doesn't scare me."

"But you were scared enough to sweep in the first place," Ururu rebutted.

"I don't get scared! Who do you think you are? You're not the boss of me!" He lifted up his broom and ran towards her. She dropped to a crouching position, covering her head with her hands and whimpering while he drove the bristles of the broom through her hair aggressively. "I'm in charge, cuz I'm bigger than you!"

"We're the same size," she whimpered. "Besides, Jinta, I'm three years older than you."

"So? Who cares about age? I'm a higher rank than you!" He lifted the broom into the air, intending to hit her with it, when a hand suddenly grabbed it and tore it from his grasp. The two kids looked behind them, Jinta with a look of shock and Ururu with tears in her eyes. When they turned around, they spotted Rukia. She was wearing her school uniform, but evidently was not informed that she was supposed to stop wearing the blazer.

"You never change, do you, little one?" She asked Jinta. "So is your manager in yet?" Jinta huffed at her.

"Come on in," he said begrudgingly. He grabbed hold of a sliding panel of wood in front of the door and slid it open. Rukia could see a person standing inside the shop. He was a large, muscular man. He was wearing a white tee-shirt under a dark blue apron, with green slacks. His hair was braided into three long braids, and he had a large, bushy moustache. Red-framed glasses sat on his nose. He was carrying several boxes in his hands.

"What are you doing, Jinta?" The man asked. "It's too early to open up the shop." The door slid open, and in strode Rukia. "Miss Kuchiki. Just give me a minute. I'll go and see if the boss is up and moving yet."

"Don't bother," said a sleepy voice behind him. "I'm already awake for once." Everyone looked at the source of the voice, Kisuke Urahara. He let out a long yawn, and stepped into his wooden clogs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Good morning, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu. Welcome back to my shop, Miss Kuchiki." He walked up to Rukia. "Your timing couldn't be more perfect. I just got a new shipment in the other day. How can I help you this morning?"

* * *

Rukia and Urahara were in the back of the shop, near the register, working out her order.

"One Kikon Shiki," Urahara read out, punching it into a handheld device. "Oh, uh, what grade?"

"I'll take the cheapest you've got," Rukia said.

"You got it. So that makes 60 tablets of Soma fixer, and uh- look, I know this is none of my business, but if you use too much of this stuff, it can be toxic. If you over-synchronize with your gigai, you're in for a world of hurt when you finally jump ship."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Believe me. It's just that lately, my connection with it has grown pretty weak. It's becoming a lot more difficult to move this body."

"Want me to check it out for you?" Urahara asked excitedly. "Come on, I'll cut you a good deal."

"No thank you!" Rukia said irritated.

"Fine," he sighed. "So, how are our little friends doing? Are their gigais working out for them?"

"They seem to be functioning perfectly," Rukia said. "They can move just fine, and apparently they can fight, too."

"That's good."

"By the way, do you know if that special order I made has been delivered yet?"

"Yeah it's here," he said. He looked to the two children standing behind Rukia. "Hey, Ururu. Go grab it out of storage, will you?"

"Oh, uh, OK," she said happily, running towards the back room.

"Just look for the box labeled 'new item', OK?"

* * *

Ururu had entered the back room, and began looking around all the shelves for the box she was looking for. "OK, let's see, new item," she said to herself. "Oh!" She exclaimed, seeing a box on the floor wedged between two other boxes. She opened it up and looked inside. Inside was a small object wrapped in cloth. "There you are," she said, taking the item out of the box.

* * *

Rukia was holding the item that Ururu brought back, examining it closely. "So, this is the only one you could get, then?" she asked.

"Oh please," Urahara said. "Give me a break. That's the second-most-popular one on the market. Wasn't all that easy to come by. Now, look." His face suddenly became very serious. "Just go easy. You can't fake it forever, all right?"

"Yes, I know that," she said. "What about those other things I asked for?"

"They're right this way," he said.

* * *

"Man, where is she?" Yang asked. Rukia still hadn't shown up yet, and it was well into the school day.

"Beats me," Ichigo said nonchalantly. He was hanging around with the three girls from Remnant along with Keigo and Mizuiro while they waited for their next class to start. Yang had been avoiding making eye contact with him since that morning, clearly still angry at him for ogling her. "Her errand must have gone on longer than she thought."

"I wonder what it could have been," Pyrrha said. Blake didn't say anything, and just continued to read her book, occasionally stealing glances in Chad's direction, who was sitting in his desk on the other side of the room. His memories of fighting the Hollow had been removed, so he didn't remember spending time with her. For some reason, it made Blake a little sad.

"Soooooo, ladies," Keigo said, trying to be smooth. "There's this new movie coming out, and I was wondering if—"

"Good morning!" Rukia called from the door to the classroom, her fake smile plastered on her face. She gave a little giggle. "Hi, everyone. How are you?"

"Oh, good morning Rukia," Mizuiro greeted.

"Ah, looking lovely as always, Rukia," Keigo greeted, blushing happily. This got an annoyed reaction from Yang.

_First Ichigo stares at my chest this morning, then there's this hopeless flirt. And something about his voice just pisses me off, for some reason._ She huffed in annoyance before turning to look out the window.

"This isn't like you," Mizuiro said to Rukia. "It's already third period." Rukia giggled again.

"Sorry, something came up," she answered.

"It must've been a hell of a 'something' if it took you this long," Yang said, still looking out the window.

"Rukia," Pyrrha said. "why are you still wearing your blazer?"

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.

"We switched to the summer uniform," Ichigo answered. "Did you not get the memo?"

"Oh, is that so?" Rukia asked, taking off the blazer and tossing it on the counter at the back of the room."By the way, Ichigo, do you mind if I steal you for a second?"

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked, walking up to her. "If you want to talk, then let's do it here." She suddenly punched him in the stomach, causing him to collapse.

"Oh, Ichigo, what just happened?" Rukia exclaimed, pretending that she hadn't just punched him. She started dragging him out of the room by his head. "I better get you to the nurse's office," she said, getting him out of the room.

"She just hit him, didn't she?" Mizuiro asked.

"I didn't see a thing," Keigo said.

"Well, that was weird," Yang said.

"That girl has some issues," Blake said, finally looking up from her book.

"I wonder what she wants with him," Pyrrha said.

"So anyway ladies," Keigo started, "Like I was saying before—"

"We're not interested," Yang said, irritated. "Just buzz off already, will you?" Keigo was stunned, and clearly hurt by her words. The group of them heard a beeping sound coming from Rukia's discarded blazer. Yang got up and walked over to it. She reached into the pocket and grabbed Rukia's soul pager. "I guess she forgot this," she said. "I'm gonna go find her and give it back," she said to the others. _Anything to get away from Casanova over here_.

* * *

"Here," Rukia said to Ichigo, tossing a small object to him. It was a purple tube with the head and feet of a duck. The words "SOUL CANDY" were written along the side of it in colorful letters.

"What's this supposed to be?" he asked.

"Gikongan," she answered. "Substitute soul pills. Tablets that force souls from the flesh. Just swallow one, and a substitute soul will enter the body, so the real one can roam free. If the time comes that you have to face a Hollow and I'm not around, you can use them to transform into a Soul Reaper." Ichigo examined it all over, before looking at the letters written on the side.

"It's got 'Soul Candy' printed right on here," he said.

"Oh," Rukia said, crossing her arms with an annoyed expression on her face. "That's only because the Soul Society Women's League complained. They didn't like 'gikongan'. They said it wasn't cute enough, so they decided to change it." Ichigo looked at the head of the tube.

"Alright, why is it a duck?"

"Shut up. I didn't even order that one, all right? I asked for Chappy the Rabbit!"

"Okaaaay," he said. "So you wanted one shaped like a rabbit then, huh?"

"What's that?!" She yelled indignantly. "What did you just say?! How dare you mock me, you imbecile! "

"It's not that. I just didn't understand your explanation is all."

"Go ahead," she said. "Swallow one and it'll all be clear."

Ichigo held the tube up to his mouth and pressed down on the duck's head. The duck's mouth opened, and a little green pill popped out into Ichigo's mouth. He swallowed, and was suddenly hit with a really weird feeling. He felt unsteady on his feet, and his body fell one way, while his soul fell the other. His body hit the ground, unmoving, while Ichigo looked down at his Soul Reaper form, surprised.

"Woah, I'm out of my body," he said.

"Oh, don't be so shocked," said Rukia. "Inside your body right now is a substitute soul. And no one will even notice that your true soul is gone." As she said this, Ichigo's body started to get up, freaking Ichigo out. His body stood up, put on a pleasant smile, and saluted the two of them.

"Hi," "Ichigo" said. "Good afternoon. Nice to meet you. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. 'Early to bed, early to rise', that's my motto." Ichigo's shock and horror was instantly replaced by sheer confusion.

"Early to bed, early to what?" He asked.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Rukia asked proudly.

"Amazing my ass!" Ichigo said, turning around to face her and pointing at his body. "What is that thing over there? How can he be me if I'm me?"

"What the hell?" a new voice said. Ichigo and Rukia turned around and saw Yang standing there, her face a mixture of shock and confusion. "Why are there two Ichigos?"

"Yang?" Ichigo asked. "What are you doing here?" She didn't answer him.

"I put a substitute soul inside Ichigo's body," Rukia explained. "That way he can go and fight Hollows and people won't realize he's gone."

"You know, I thought that after dying and getting sent to another world, nothing would surprise me. I thought wrong." She blinked a few times, still not believing what she was seeing.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Ichigo asked again. Yang deliberately looked away from him, and handed Rukia her Soul Pager. _I guess she's still mad at me for this morning._

"Rukia left this in her blazer pocket. I'm just giving it back to her. It was beeping earlier."

"Oh, thank you," Rukia said, taking the Pager. She flipped it open and took a look at the message. "It looks like we have a mission."

"Really?" Ichigo asked, not happy.

"Hey, this is perfect," Rukia said. "We can leave the gikongan here at school while we go after the Hollow. Yang can stay with him to make sure things go smoothly."

"What?" Yang asked.

"Are you deranged?!" Ichigo yelled. Rukia wasn't listening.

"Let's go!" She exclaimed, dragging Ichigo along behind her, leaving Yang alone with the soul in Ichigo's body.

* * *

Urahara was walking in the storage room of his shop, inspecting the merchandise, when he saw something out of the ordinary.

"Wait a sec," he said, looking at it. It was a box, lying on the floor, wedged between two other boxes. It had been opened, and the merchandise inside was no longer there. He realized that whatever was in that box was what he had sold to Rukia earlier that day. And it wasn't good. "Oh, man."

* * *

"Take a good look," Jinta said angrily to Ururu. He was holding the box Kisuke found in front of her so she could clearly see the label. "What does it say? Go on. Read it."

"Uh, 'Defective Goods'?" Ururu read.

"Yeah, that's right," Jinta said. "Defective goods. Do you have any idea what you've done? You sold a customer faulty merchandise you dummy!"

"Oh," Ururu looked down sadly.

"Moron!" Jinta yelled, grabbing at her bangs and pulling as hard as he could. "Get your act together, will you? You and your stupid flabby bangs!"

"Hey," Kisuke called to the two kids. "Hey! No fighting."

"You know," Tessai said. "If we're not careful, this gikongan could cause some real problems."

"You got that right," Kisuke said. "We can't just sit on this. We better take care of it right away. There's no telling what he might do if we let him run loose out there."

* * *

"So, what do I call you?" Yang said to "Ichigo". "You got a name?"

"Nope," he replied. "Just call me 'Ichigo' while I'm in this body."

"I'll pass," she said.

"So, what's your name?"

"Yang."

"Well Yang," he said, sending her a look that sent a chill down her spine. She really didn't like the way he was looking at her. Then she noticed where his eyes were pointed. "You've got an amazing body, you know that?"

"What?" She said, starting to feel creeped out.

"What do you say we get out of here?" He said. "I could show you a real good time, babe."

"Excuse me?!" She exclaimed.

"It's been a while since I've had a body. I'd love to break it in. So come on. It'll be fun."

"I don't think so."

"Don't be like that," he said, taking a step towards her, reaching out his arms to try to wrap them around her.

"Back off!" She yelled, throwing a punch at him. To her surprise, he caught her arm by the wrist, holding it still. She tried again with the other arm, but he caught that one, too. He lifted both of her arms up and held them above her head. She tried to break free, but his grip was too strong. "What the hell?! Let me go!" She looked at him, and he started moving his face towards her. She was starting to get scared. She lifted up her leg, intending to kick him in the groin. To her surprise, the hands holding her arms suddenly let go and he disappeared. She looked around for him, and found that he had jumped up to the roof. _How the hell did he do that?_

"I think I came on too strong," he said to himself. "I'll have to change my approach. This one's a lost cause. That's too bad. I've always wanted to get with a busty blonde. Oh, well, nothing I can do about it." With an incredible leap, he jumped to the roof of another building, before Yang lost sight of him. She just stood there, trying to process what just happened to her. Then she felt only rage.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him! He picked the wrong day to mess with me!"

* * *

"What is taking them so long?" Pyrrha asked.

"Beats me," Blake said, still reading.

"Do you think something could have happened?"

"I'm sure they're fine. Yang's a big girl, and Ichigo can definitely take care of himself." The other students in the classroom were talking amongst themselves when they heard the lunch bell ring.

"All right!" Orihime yelled excitedly, standing up and throwing her arms into the air. "At last, time for lunch!"

"Jeez, Orihime," Tatsuki said, walking up to her with a lunch box in her hand. "It's just lunch. It's not a big deal."

"How can you say that, Tatsuki?" Orihime asked. "Everyone knows that a healthy, red-blooded high school girl comes to school for only one reason—to eat her lunch."

"Yeah, yeah," Tatsuki said. "Have a seat already." Orihime then looked at the two new students.

"Blake, Pyrrha," Orihime called. "Would you like to sit with us? We haven't really had an opportunity to get to know each other yet."

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Tatsuki said. "What do you say?"

"Sure," Blake said, putting her book away.

"That sounds lovely," Pyrrha said with her trademark smile. The girls put a few desks together to turn into a makeshift lunch table. They sat down, Orihime on one side, Tatsuki at the head, and Blake and Pyrrha on the side opposite Orihime. Orihime grabbed a giant loaf of bread and a small jar out of her bag. Blake pulled out her favorite lunch: a tuna sandwich. Pyrrha had stopped at a convenience store on the way to school and bought a few more rice balls. She found that she liked the treats, and had bought a nice variety.

"Oh, tuna and rice balls," Orihime said, looking at the other girls' lunches. "Looks good. What did you bring for lunch, Tatsuki?" She grabbed a giant loaf of bread, much to the other girls' confusion, and a small jar. "I've got bread and red bean paste."

"That sounds good," Tatsuki said, patting Orihime on the head. "Unfortunately, my lunch is a little more ordinary."

"Bread and paste?" Blake asked.

"Yup," Orihime said happily. "I can make my own red bean buns."

"That sounds delicious," Pyrrha said.

"Right?" asked Orihime, taking a bite out of her bread.

"Hi, ladies," a new voice said. It belonged to Orihime's friend Chizuru. She had shoulder-length, dark red hair, and red-framed glasses. "Why don't I sit with you, too?"

"Sure," Orihime said, smiling at her. Chizuru instantly noticed that there were a few crumbs around her mouth.

"That's so cute!" Chizuru yelled, wrapping her arms around Orihime, surprising Blake and Pyrrha.

"Does she do that a lot?" Blake asked Tatsuki.

"Unfortunately," she answered.

Suddenly, the class saw Ichigo leap up to the window, shocking all of them.

"Hey there," he said.

* * *

Ichigo charged at the Hollow, letting out a battle cry and jumping into the air. As he came down, he slashed the Hollow across the mask, causing it to dissolve into black particles. It hardly put up a fight.

"Man, I'm getting a bad feeling," he said, looking back in the direction of the school.

* * *

The students were all gathered around, staring at "Ichigo" after he jumped up to the window of their classroom. Tatsuki was pointing at him angrily, while Orihime was hiding behind her. Blake and Pyrrha were more confused than shocked.

"Wait a second!" Tatsuki yelled. "How the hell did you get up here like that?"

"He shouldn't have any powers in his human form," Blake whispered to Pyrrha. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Pyrrha answered. "But where are Rukia and Yang?"

"What do you mean 'how'?" "Ichigo" asked. "I jumped up here. You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you? Pretty rad, huh? Can you believe it?"

"I bet he crawled over here from the classroom next door," a male student said.

"No way! He jumped up from the yard!" Another one argued.

"Did you see him do it?" the first one scoffed.

"Well, no."

_Ooooooh, righteous!_ "Ichigo" thought, grinning happily. _Their eyes are all over me. They can't get enough. They totally think I'm amazing. Man, this rocks!_ He took a closer look at the students in the class, or more specifically, the ladies. His eyes scanned over them, a hungry look to them. _Jeez, the girls in this class are a bunch of hotties. I don't think there's a bad-looking one in the bunch. And I've been cooped up for so long._ His eyes finally settled on Orihime. Or rather, the two large mounds sitting on her chest. _Super size! They might be as big as Blondie's!_ In an instant, he had run up to Orihime, holding one of her hands in his, while his other hand was stroking her long hair.

"Hey there, pretty lady," he said. "I don't believe that we've met. Would you please do me the honor of telling me your name?" He lifted up Orihime's hand, and planted a soft kiss on it. Orihime instantly blushed, and the other girls shrieked in shock. Tatsuki immediately had him in a headlock.

"Ichigo, what the hell do you think you're doing, you stupid moron?!"

"What's wrong with him today?" Blake asked. "First there was that thing with Yang this morning, and now this?" Pyrrha could only laugh nervously.

"This better not be your idea of a joke!" Tatsuki yelled at him. He looked up, bringing his face only inches away from Tatsuki's.

"Hey, you're pretty cute yourself, now that I get a closer look at you."

"Huh?" The other girls wailed in disgust. Then to everyone's shock and horror, "Ichigo" planted a kiss right on Tatsuki's cheek. "What the hell?" She let go and just stared at him, her face beet red, and fury in her eyes. At that moment, the door to the classroom was flung open.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Yang screamed at him. She was standing in the doorway, her eyes red, pure rage in her voice.

"Oh hey," "Ichigo" said. "It's Blondie. I don't know how you changed your eye color, but I gotta say, I'm liking it."

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia were almost back at school, running as fast as they could.

"Why are we in such a rush to get back to class?" Rukia asked.

"I'm worried," Ichigo said. "I want to make sure he's doing OK."

"There's nothing to worry about," she said. "Yang's with him, so I'm sure he's fine."

"I'm not so sure about that. I'm getting a weird vibe all of a sudden." They heard screaming, and looked up at the window of their classroom, just in time to see a desk come flying out of it.

"Looks like you were right," Rukia said. "Like you were saying, we'd better hurry."

"Told you."

* * *

Tatsuki was holding a desk above her head, preparing to throw it at "Ichigo". Her face was red, but whether out of embarrassment or anger was anyone's guess. Yang was being physically restrained by Blake and Pyrrha. It took everything they had to hold her back from going on a rampage and destroying the classroom, or worse, killing "Ichigo".

"You son of a bitch! Die!" Tatsuki screamed, throwing the desk at him. He sidestepped out of the way, and the desk went out the window.

"Watch it!" He said, as Tatsuki grabbed another desk.

"LET ME AT HIM!" Yang screamed, fighting to break out of the grip the other two girls had on her. "I'M GONNA KILL THAT LITTLE PERVERT!"

"Yang, calm down!" Blake pleaded.

"If you let loose now, you could destroy the whole classroom!" Pyrrha tried to reason with her.

"SHUT UP! LET ME GO!"

Tatsuki lifted the new desk over her head, preparing to throw it at him again.

"What's your problem?" "Ichigo" asked. "All I did was kiss your cheek. Why is that such a big deal? I mean, you're not in grade school anymore."

"SHUT UP!" Tatsuki screamed, charging at him with the desk in her hands. She slammed it into the floor right where "Ichigo" was standing, but he jumped out of the way. The other students could only watch what was going on in bewilderment, when the door to the classroom opened, revealing Rukia.

* * *

"Stop right there," Rukia said, catching "Ichigo's" attention. He looked at her, his face screaming "I'm in trouble". "It's over," she said sternly. He bolted for the window. "Ichigo, look out!"

"Right!" Came a voice from outside. At that moment, the real Ichigo jumped into the room through the window, stopping the fake in his tracks. Blake and Pyrrha were stunned.

"Stop," Ichigo said. "There's no place to run."

"Rukia, a little help here?" Blake asked. She and Pyrrha were still trying to hold back Yang, whose struggles were still going strong. Rukia let out a sigh.

"Bakudo Number 1: Sai!" she yelled. Yang's arms were wrenched behind her back and she was forced to the floor. Blake and Pyrrha breathed sighs of relief.

"Hey!" Yang said. "What the hell?!" She started struggling against her invisible bindings, with no luck.

"Just sit still and let us handle it," Rukia said. She walked past the girls and took a cautious step towards the fake Ichigo, who looked back at her, panic clear in his face. The faker looked back at Ichigo and grinned. He jumped, and spun around with his legs extended, so he kicked at Ichigo every time he passed him. Ichigo caught his leg the third time he kicked.

"Hey, you," he said. "I mean me. Why the hell are you doing this?" In a feat of impressive acrobatics, the faker kicked with the leg Ichigo wasn't holding, hitting him in the side of the head. Ichigo staggered to the side, before the faker kicked him several times in the stomach.

* * *

"Ichigo?" Orihime asked, confused. To her and the other students, it looked like Ichigo was kicking thin air.

"Why is he kicking the air like that?" another student asked.

"Who cares?" Tatsuki said, still disgusted with him. "Why is Yang pretending to be tied up? What is happening right now?"

* * *

Ichigo was losing this fight pretty badly. Before he could get his bearings after the barrage of kicks he took to his side, he was kicked in the face, took an uppercut to the jaw, and then thrown over the faker's shoulder. He recovered from being thrown in time to duck under a spinning kick, but couldn't react in time to the faker's knee colliding with his stomach. He reeled in pain, before the faker began kicking him repeatedly in the stomach. To the astonishment of the four girls that could see him, Ichigo eventually became airborn from the sheer force of the kicks. Yang had even stopped struggling, too surprised by what she was seeing. The faker finally put a stop to the onslaught by kicking him into the desks while he was in midair, knocking a bunch of them aside as he collided with them.

* * *

To the other students in the room, it looked as if the desks suddenly moved for no reason after "Ichigo" kicked the air.

"What's going on?" a girl asked, quickly becoming afraid.

"Don't know," another one said. "Maybe it's a poltergeist." One of the desks started to shift, as if it was being moved out of the way. Orihime was staring at it, as if she could make out something the others couldn't.

* * *

Ichigo grabbed one of the desks that landed on top of him, and pushed it out of the way before grabbing hold of another desk and pulling himself to his feet. He stood up and glared at the faker, who just looked at him with a cocky smirk on his face.

"See ya," the faker said. He then swan dove out the window. Ichigo and Rukia ran up to the window to watch him sprint away.

"What the hell does he think he's doing?" Ichigo asked. "Is he crazy or what?"

"Is it even possible?" Rukia asked. "No, he couldn't be one of them. He must be a Mod Soul." Ichigo jumped out the window to give chase. "Ichigo!" Rukia yelled after him, turning to run out of the classroom. "Come on!" She yelled to the girls from Remnant. "I'm gonna need you three!"

"Hey!" Yang yelled, still restrained on the floor. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, right." With a wave of her hand, the Kido was undone, and Yang was able to move again.

"You want to explain what that was all about?" Blake asked.

"I'll explain on the way."

* * *

The other students were still in a state of confusion, watching Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha sprint out of the classroom after "Ichigo" jumped out the window. But it happened so fast, some people weren't even sure of what happened.

"That was Rukia, wasn't it?" Mizuiro asked.

"I don't know," Keigo said, covering his eyes. "I didn't see a thing."

"Who cares about her?" Tatsuki growled. "Ichigo, you are dead!" If the other students didn't know any better, they could've sworn that the air around Tatsuki's body looked like it was on fire.

"Demonic," Chad commented.

"Tatsuki," Orihime called. She was staring out the window, looking at where Rukia and the other three girls ran off.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki asked.

"You must have been scared," Chizuru said. "Poor Orihime. It's all right. Don't let it get to you. Just pretend you had a run-in with some mangy, stray dog."

"That's all right," Orihime said. "I'm fine. And that wasn't Ichigo anyway." The other girls just looked at her in confusion.

* * *

"Oh, crap!" Ichigo wailed. The five of them had lost track of the fake Ichigo in an abandoned warehouse. Rukia had managed to explain the situation to Blake and Pyrrha on the way, so they knew why there were two Ichigo's running around. "Great. We lost him. Or me. Or whatever the hell you want to call it." Yang growled in frustration.

"We're at a dead end here," Rukia said.

"What?" Ichigo glared at her. "Look! We don't have time for your Soul Reaper nonsense! I have to capture him—I mean me! I mean, I'm not sure what I mean!" His growing frustration was evident in his voice.

"I still owe him a beating for what he tried to do to me!" Yang yelled , her eyes turning red again.

"Yang, temper…" Blake warned.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Oh yeah, what's going on with your eyes?" Ichigo asked, apparently his curiosity causing him to momentarily forget his current predicament.

"That's part of her Semblance," Blake answered for her.

"What's a Semblance?" Rukia asked.

"It's a special ability people from out world can use," Pyrrha answered. "Mine was polarity, Blake could make clones of herself, and Yang powered herself up every time she took a hit. As a side-effect, her eyes turned red. It also happened when she got angry."

"But we haven't had our Semblances since we died," Blake said, placing her hand on her chin.

"I don't feel any stronger," Yang said. "But I was definitely pissed off after what the fake Ichigo tried to do to me."

"Oh, that's right!" Ichigo wailed. "I forgot about him! Did you see the riot he caused in class?! That jerk used my body to take advantage of Yang and Orihime and Tatsuki and then he k-k-k-k…" he couldn't form the words.

"He kissed them," Rukia stated. "Yes I know."

"This sucks!"

"If you ask me, your faker doesn't seem so different from you," Yang glared at him. "Maybe a little more forward, but you're both perverts." Ichigo wailed in despair at her words.

"Yang! I am so sorry about this morning! I didn't mean to stare at you like that! It was wrong, but I would never take advantage of you like that! I mean, it's not that you aren't a pretty girl! You are, but-!" Yang's face suddenly turned as red as her eyes. "No wait! That's not what I meant!" Yang just huffed and turned away from him. "Argh! My life is over!"

"Oh, please," Rukia said. "Get over it already. A kiss is nothing more than a form of greeting. And all you did was look at Yang. I fail to see the problem."

"Seriously?" Blake asked while Pyrrha just chuckled nervously.

"I mean, in this book Blake lent me, it said there are far worse things that can happen to a girl." Blake's eyes instantly shot open at that comment, and she looked away, blushing intently.

"Will you shut up?" Ichigo asked to the former Soul Reaper. "This is a catastrophe! He came on to my classmates! What the hell kind of books are you giving her, Blake?!" Blake's blush intensified and Ichigo yelled in frustration again. "I put years into crafting my image!"

"Image?" Rukia asked Pyrrha. "So he looks and acts that way on purpose?"

"I suppose so," Pyrrha responded.

"Forget it," he said, after taking a few seconds to breath and calm down. "It doesn't matter. Wait, you called him a 'Mod Soul', right? What is that? Just what the hell is he?"

"I'm curious as well," Pyrrha said. Rukia looked down somberly as she began her explanation.

"A while back, the Soul Society initiated a new project they called 'Spearhead'."

"'Spearhead'?" Blake asked.

"Yes. They took souls that had been modified for combat and placed them into the dead, after their own souls had parted. They were to be used as soldiers against the Hollows. It was a reprehensible plan."

"I'll say," Yang said.

"That's awful," Pyrrha agreed. Rukia pulled out a pen and her sketch pad and began to illustrate her point. The first character she drew was a bear-like creature holding a giant rock. The second drawing was the same creature with circles for legs to indicate fast running speed.

"All of the souls that were selected to take part in the Spearhead project were then altered. Once inside a body, one aspect of their host is made superhuman. They were artificial souls built for battle. They were called 'Mod Souls'. Do you understand this so far?" She showed her drawings to the group, who just stared blankly at them. Ichigo was the one who dared to speak up.

"Yeah, but your sucky little drawings make it seem like it's no big deal." Ichigo was rewarded with a punch to the face. The other girls facepalmed. Would he ever learn to stop commenting on the drawings? Rukia continued.

"But the Spearhead project was rejected because it would force corpses to fight. In the end, all the mod souls that were still in the incubation stages were ordered to be destroyed. However, clearly some are still out there."

"So, wait a minute," Ichigo said. "You're telling me that the guy inside my body was created by the Soul Society? And now they've decided that they want him wiped out for being what they made him?"

"That's not right," Yang said.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Rukia said.

"And you're telling me you can honestly accept that?" Ichigo asked.

"Whether I accept it or not is irrelevant," Rukia said sharply. "The Mod Souls must be destroyed. The Soul Society commanded it. And lest you forget, the laws of the Soul Society are not arbitrary. They have been put in place for the protection and well-being of all human souls."

"That's crap!" Yang yelled, grabbing Rukia by the shirt. "I may want to rough him up for what he did, but he doesn't deserve to die just for existing!"

"This doesn't sit right with me, either," Blake said.

"I would have to agree with them," Pyrrha said. "It's not right."

"The laws of the Soul Society must be obeyed!" Rukia shouted.

"Oh really?" Yang asked angrily. "Where was that attitude when you broke the Soul Society's laws to give Ichigo his powers? Or when you put the three of us in gigais to keep us safe?"

"Those were necessary! Mod Souls are dangerous!"

"Because they're supposed to be! Now I may not like what that guy tried to do, but it's obvious that he has thoughts and feelings! Why doesn't he get to be treated like a person? Huh?!"

"That's…" Rukia looked at the floor, the fight gone from her voice when she realized that she had no arguments.

"Forget it," Yang growled. "Come on girls, let's go find him. We'd better keep him away from the Soul Reaper here." She let go of Rukia's shirt and walked out of the warehouse, Blake and Pyrrha following after her. Neither of them looked Rukia in the eyes. Rukia just stood there, not saying a word.

"They're right, you know?" Ichigo said to her.

"Let's just go," she said sadly.

* * *

_I wonder what he must be feeling, walking around inside my body?_ Ichigo thought. He and Rukia were running through the city, trying to find the Mod Soul. The other girls had split up from them. _They're created at random, destroyed at random. Yet somehow he survived and found his way to a body. But still, he has to keep running. I can't imagine what that must be like for him._

* * *

"Yeah!" The fake Ichigo shouted with joy. He was jumping around in the city, taking a step off the ground before launching himself several feet in the air. "All right! This is great!" People who saw him were in awe and confusion at how someone was able to jump that high. "Everybody's watching me! And they're in awe!" With a shout of pure bliss, he launched himself to the roof of a building and landed on the fence around the roof's edge. He shuffled along the fence before jumping around again. "Oh, boy! I heard Mod Souls had all kinds of different abilities! I'm so glad that my ability makes me stand out in the crowd! Here we go!" He kicked off the fence and landed on the wall of an elementary school courtyard. He saw three kids huddled next to the shed for the sports equipment. "Wow, what are they up to?"

"Man, this is so much better than phys ed," one of the boys said. The three of them were huddled around playing a handheld video game. The one that spoke had slicked back brown hair and glasses. What a waste of time."

"Yeah," a heavy boy with long brown hair said. "this is a great way to ditch class." The Mod Soul just watched with interest. An explosion sound came from the bespectacled boy's game.

"Dang!" the boy said. "I can't believe I lost again!" a chubby boy with black buzzed hair laughed at him.

"What's wrong with you?!" The boy with glasses yelled at his game. "Get him! I created you, didn't I? Now do what I tell you!"

"Just kill him off," the boy with the long hair said. _That_ got the Mod Soul's attention.

"Yeah, totally," the boy with the buzzcut agreed. "Anyone who doesn't obey their master should die." There was another explosion sound.

"Jeez, you destroyed him!" The long-haired boy said.

"So what? I'll just make a better one!" The three boys started to laugh. The Mod Soul couldn't take it anymore. He jumped off the wall and landed in front of the boys, looking at them with absolute hate in his eyes.

"What do you want?" the boy with the glasses asked him, clearly a little afraid of the older boy. The Mod Soul simply yelled and lifted his leg into the air to try and deliver an axe kick to the three boys, when his kick was blocked by the sudden appearance of Ichigo. Ichigo threw him backwards, and they just stared each other down, Ichigo with a scowl, and the Mod Soul with a smirk.

_To be continued…_

**A/N: Who would've thought that the longest chapter yet would be Kon's introduction? I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thank you guys for reading!**

**I will no longer be doing once-a-week updates. It's getting too hard to maintain, and it'll let me plan things out a little better. So, the chapters will come out when they're finished. **

**As always, feedback is always appreciated. Thanks again!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Holy Crap. Over 100 Follows. Thank you guys so much! I hope you guys enjoy the new Chapter, and I have an update on the direction this story is going at the end**

Chapter 8: I Exist

"Like they say, what's done is done," Kisuke said. He was preparing his people to go out and retrieve the rouge Mod Soul, and was holding a large cylindrical object wrapped in bandages.

"Um, Mr. Kisuke, sir?" Ururu asked nervously, walking up behind him. "I, um, I am so sorry. I know this is all my fault. I hope that you're not mad at me." Kisuke simply chuckled at her words and moved his hand towards her. She instinctively flinched, expecting to be struck, but to her surprise, he placed his hand on top of her head affectionately.

"There's no need to be afraid, Ururu," Kisuke said, crouching down so he was at eye-level with the girl. "We're in this together. So, you made a big mistake." He pulled her into a warm embrace. "I mean, you didn't do it on purpose. Accidents happen. Don't you worry. I'll take care of everything." Ururu couldn't hold back anymore and began sobbing into Kisuke's shoulder. "There, there. It's OK."

"Excuse me, Mr. Kisuke," Tessai said, interrupting the moment. "Everything's ready, sir."

"Good," Kisuke said, letting go of his embrace of the girl in front of him. "Let's collect the merchandise."

"Yes, sir," Tessai responded, bowing politely.

"All right!" Jinta yelled excitedly. He was holding what could only be described as a giant spiked bat. Ururu picked up the large cylinder, and hefted it over her shoulder before the quartet walked out of the store.

* * *

The three boys were huddled in fear after seeing a high school kid try to attack them.

"Did you see that?" the kid with glasses asked his friends. "He just jumped from way up there."

The fake Ichigo was standing in the middle of the courtyard, his fists raised. Rukia was running up behind him, but stopped at the sight of seeing the Mod Soul fighting Ichigo.

The Mod Soul kicked at Ichigo's head twice. Ichigo tilted his head to dodge both of them. The Soul Reaper's opponent spun in place and attempted to backhand him, but Ichigo jumped over and behind him. The faker glared at him and growled. This fight was going much differently than their last one.

"If I stay calm," Ichigo said, "I'll be able to predict every move you've got."

The Mod Soul leaped into the air, and delivered a flying kick aimed at Ichigo's head. The Soul Reaper was effortlessly able to duck under it. The Mod Soul continued to kick at him, but Ichigo was able to keep blocking every attack. He was able to grab the faker by the leg, lift him up into the air, and throw him. The Mod Soul landed on his feet, and looked at him nervously. He knew what being caught by a Soul Reaper meant for him, and he couldn't let that happen. He made another incredible leap, and jumped onto an overpass near the school courtyard, making his escape.

"Wait, you!" Ichigo called after him.

"Ichigo, hold it!" Rukia yelled, stopping him in his tracks. She was holding her beeping Soul Pager and staring at the screen. "We have new orders."

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."

"We've got a Hollow alert here. We have to leave now." Ichigo couldn't believe it. Could this have possibly come at a worse time?

"Right now?" he asked, still looking at where the Mod Soul ran off to with his body.

"Let's move!" Rukia shouted at him. Ichigo grunted in frustration and ran after her.

* * *

"Alright you three," the P.E. teacher yelled at the three kids. She was fairly young, with shoulder-length brown hair pinned back. "Why aren't you playing soccer?" She spotted the handheld game console in one of the boy's hands. "Oh, so you were playing video games again?"

"This high school guy just flew down on us and wrecked my game," said the boy with glasses.

"Yeah," the chubby boy agreed. "His hair was bright orange."

"Lying's not going to help," the teacher said. She looked down and saw the broken game lying on the ground. She picked it up and examined it. "Well it is broken all right. I bet you three broke this fighting over it."

* * *

The Mod Soul was hopping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to put as much distance between himself and the Soul Reaper as possible.

_That really stunk_, he thought. _Here I was, in a really great mood, having fun, and those three had to ruin everything. That Soul Reaper didn't help, either. _A roar in the distance made him stop.

"I sense a Hollow," he said out loud. "It feels like it's going to the school I was just at. Who is it going to attack? It could be those three kids." He remembered the words the kids said. The callous way they suggested killing off their creations and making new ones. He narrowed his eyes and headed back to the school.

* * *

"She really pisses me off sometimes, you know that?" Yang said angrily. She and her two friends from Remnant had been searching the city all afternoon for the Mod Soul, but they found no sign of him. Their search had brought them right outside an elementary school. She was still fuming about the argument she had gotten into with Rukia earlier that day. "I can't believe she said that! How could she?"

"We just need to find him before she does," Pyrrha said.

"Easier said than done," Blake said. "We've had no luck so far."

"With his hair color, you'd think we'd have no trouble finding him," Yang said.

"Man, why didn't Miss Ito believe us about that orange-haired guy?" they heard a young-sounding voice say.

"Maybe because we lie all the time?" another voice said. The three girls just looked at each other in disbelief.

"There's no way," Blake said.

"Only one way to find out," Yang said. "Hey! Kids!" She called out, running over to them.

"What do you want?" the boy with glasses asked before he turned around and saw who was talking to them. He and his friends immediately blushed upon seeing the three beautiful older girls standing in front of them.

"You said something about a guy with orange hair, right?" Yang asked.

"Yeah," the boy said timidly.

"We're trying to find him. Can you tell us what you know?"

* * *

Rukia's Soul Pager started beeping again. They had been trying to find the Hollow for a while but had no luck so far. Rukia pulled her Pager out of her pocket. She looked at it with a confused expression.

"Hm?"

"What is it now?" Ichigo asked, getting aggravated.

"My Soul Pager," she said, pressing several buttons on it. "There's something wrong with it."

"What?"

"Is the battery dead?" she asked, putting it up to her ear.

"You didn't recharge it?" he asked in disbelief. "Next time, do that instead of ordering Chappy the Rabbit." Rukia put the Soul Pager away in frustration.

"Now I can't figure out where that Hollow is."

"That's just great."

* * *

"So he attacked you?" Blake asked the boys.

"Yeah," the boy with the glasses answered. "He just came out of nowhere and wrecked my game. And then he just ran off. And then our teacher caught us trying to skip out on gym class, so she's making us stay to clean the field. This sucks!"

"Well, in all honesty, you do deserve to be punished for skipping class like that," Pyrrha said.

"But I wonder what made him attack them like that," Yang said.

"We can ask him that when we find him," Blake said. "Do you know where he went?"

"He ran onto that overpass and disappeared," the boy with long hair said.

"So, we're right back to square one," Yang said. "Great."

"That's him!" The kid with the glasses yelled, pointing behind the girls. They turned around and saw the fake Ichigo running towards them.

"YOU!" Yang yelled at him. The girls got into fighting stances, not sure what to expect, when all of a sudden they heard a roar above them. They looked up, and saw a Hollow about to descend upon them. It was very large, and looked like a centipede, except it had tentacles instead of legs. The fake Ichigo leaped high into the air and kicked it in the face, knocking it to the ground.

"What's he doing back here?" the chubby boy asked.

"Just stay behind us!" Yang yelled to them. As much as she wanted to beat the Mod Soul to a pulp, she knew protecting the boys was her top priority now. She watched as the Mod Soul roared and charged at the Hollow. It tried to swipe him with one of its tentacles, but he kicked it out of the way before leaping. While in midair, he kicked away another attacking tentacle, but a third one dug into his shoulder, leaving a large bleeding gash. He fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding shoulder in pain.

"What happened?" The boy with long hair asked. "Why is he bleeding?"

The girls didn't answer. They just watched as the Mod Soul leaped out of the courtyard, prompting the Hollow to follow him.

"Are you OK?" Pyrrha asked the boys. They all nodded.

"We'd better get after him," Blake said.

"What's going on here?" they heard a voice say. They turned around and saw what was clearly a teacher running towards them.

"We don't have time for this," Blake said.

"Run!" Yang yelled, and the three girls ran after the Mod Soul and the Hollow.

* * *

"What's that?" Ichigo asked. He and Rukia were still looking for the Hollow when they finally saw it flying up to the roof of a nearby building.

"There it is!" Rukia shouted.

"Yeah, I see it." Ichigo took another look, and saw a boy with a head of orange hair getting chased up to the roof by the Hollow.

"He's there, too," Rukia observed.

"That idiot!" Ichigo exclaimed, taking off in a run after him.

"Hold it!" Rukia yelled after his retreating form, but he either didn't hear her or wasn't listening. "Wait, Ichigo! Don't go!"

* * *

The Mod Soul currently inhabiting Ichigo's body was standing near the edge of the roof, in front of the fence. He was staring down the Hollow, the blood from his shoulder wound dripping down his arm. The Hollow chuckled at him, the sound low and guttural.

"How rude," the Hollow said to the artificial soul. "You're disturbing my lunch, and we haven't even been introduced. I don't know who you think you are, but you're too weak to take me on." The Hollow lifted itself into the air, and raised a tentacle. The tentacle suddenly extended, headed for the Mod Soul at a speed that would likely impale the body the soul was currently residing in. The Mod Soul jumped over the tentacle, but it changed directions once it hit the ground, causing it to smack him in the back, knocking him down back onto the roof. The tentacle came back around for another pass at him, but it was cut off thanks to the timely intervention of Ichigo. The Hollow reared back, and Ichigo swung his sword hard to flick the blood off of it, a scowl plastered firmly on his face.

"Hey," the Mod Soul said to him. "Why are you helping me?" Ichigo grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face closer.

"Helping you?" he asked angrily. "Do you have any idea what you just did to my shoulder? That's my body that you're messing up. Listen, if you can't take on a Hollow without getting hurt, then don't do it."

"What is your problem?" the Mod Soul started arguing with him. "I only had to fight him cuz you were late! If I'd waited for you, those kids would've been dead meat!" The Hollow was thrashing around in pain.

"Shut up! Aren't you supposed to be some kind of badass Mod Soul?" The Hollow had recovered, and turned to face the two orange-haired teens.

"Time to eat!" the Hollow yelled, charging at them. He was met with the Mod Soul kicking him in the face at the same time that Ichigo slashed his mask in half. The Hollow screamed in pain, and fell backwards. At that moment, the door to roof was opened, allowing Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha to step outside. Ignoring them, the Mod Soul roared and ran after the Hollow, launching himself into the air to kick it the face one more time for good measure. However, his momentum caused him to overshoot the roof and go over the edge. Just before he fell too far, Ichigo reached out and caught his ankle. The girls just breathed a sign of relief at seeing Ichigo catch him.

"You dumbass," he grunted. "What were you thinking when you did that? Once you split a Hollow's head open, it's finished. There was no point in you going and kicking him."

"Now you're telling me that someone was bleeding here and there were girls asking you about him?" they heard the teacher's voice from below them. "You know what I see? Nothing." The three boys were being chewed out by their teacher again.

"But Ms. Ito," the bespectacled boy whined. "This time we're telling you the real truth! I mean it!"

"All right, then," she said. "Show me. Where is this bleeding student and those girls you saw? Let's see them."

"They really were here, honest," the chubby boy said.

"Since you haven't shown me anyone, you'll have to stay after school again tomorrow."

"You know, I almost feel bad for them," Pyrrha said.

"You gonna give me a hand here, or what?" Ichigo asked through gritted teeth. The girls reached down over the edge and helped him pull the Mod Soul back onto the roof. He looked up sheepishly at the four teenagers. And then Yang punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey! What the hell?!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"What?" Yang asked. "I've been waiting to do that to him all day."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who's gonna feel that later!"

"Well then, consider us even for this morning," she said, looking at him with a small smile on her face.

"Wouldn't an apology have been enough?"

"Nope," Yang said playfully, putting extra emphasis on the "p".

_I gotta make sure to avoid her pissing her off again_, he thought.

* * *

The Mod Soul was crouched down on the roof, watching a line of ants walk by, absentmindedly rubbing his cheek where Yang punched him. Nobody had said anything for several minutes. Ichigo finally decided to break the silence.

"So why did you save those kids?" he asked the Mod Soul. "I thought you hated them."

"It's hard to explain," the artificial soul said. "If I hadn't helped those kids, they would have been killed. No one should have the right to kill anyone." The others were slightly taken aback by the surprisingly noble sentiment from someone they had previously considered a pervert and nothing else. "Right after I was created, the Soul Society gave out an order. They made an announcement that all Mod Souls should be destroyed immediately. So the very day after I was born, the Soul Society gave me a death sentence." He said that last sentence with pure malice in his voice, and the teens thought it was definitely for good reason. They all chose to stay quiet and let him continue. "I waited. I trembled with fear inside that pill, just waiting to die. Day after day, I watched helplessly as the others were disposed of. Then I got lucky. I got shipped out with a load of goods by mistake. But I always expected to be discovered and destroyed. I was alone for what seemed like years. I had quite a while to think about how things should be. And do you know what I feel? I decided that no one has the right to take someone's life away."

The girls looked down solemnly. While they agreed with what the Mod Soul was saying, they were well aware of the fact that their training as Huntresses also extended to learning how to fight and kill other humans. In fact, they had killed a few White Fang members during the attack at Beacon. They simply listened in silence as he continued.

"I exist, and I should have the right to live my life for as long as I want to. Like humans, I deserve that. So I refuse to take a life. That's the reason why I will never kill any living creature."

The four teenagers were silent, when a new voice rang out.

"Well, look who we have here." The five turned around and saw a blond-haired, middle-aged man in a bucket hat standing on the roof with them. He had three other people with him. A boy, a girl, and a large man. Ichigo had no idea who he was, but the girls recognized him.

"Kisuke?" Yang asked.

"You know him?" Ichigo asked.

"He's the one who gave us our gigais," Pyrrha answered. Kisuke started walking towards the Mod Soul, twirling a cane in his hand.

"So finally we find you," he said to the artificial soul. "And what a picture. You're all beat up and worn out. All that trouble for nothing." He pointed the end of the cane at the Mod Soul's forehead. The others looked at him in confusion as he suddenly thrust it forward. It passed right through the Mod Soul's forehead, and a little green pill popped out of the back of its head. The eyes of Ichigo's body suddenly became lifeless, as the body fell backwards onto the ground. It was quite the disturbing sight. It appeared almost as though they just watched someone die.

"Mission accomplished," Kisuke said as he reached down to pick up the pill. "We're done. Let's go home."

"What?" the boy with Kisuke whined. "Come on! I came here to have a real fight, and that's all I get?"

"Hey, hold it," Ichigo called. "What are you gonna do with that Mod Soul now?"

"No choice," Kisuke said. "I've got to destroy him."

"What?!" Yang yelled.

"You can't!" said Blake.

"That's not fair!" Pyrrha protested.

"Just who are you?" Ichigo asked angrily.

"I'm not sure how to answer that," Kisuke replied, absentmindedly tossing the pill in the air and catching it. However, a hand swiped it out of the air. The hand belonged to Rukia, who was now on the roof with them, without anybody noticing her presence.

"I believe that's mine, thanks," she said.

"Miss Kuchiki, you can't have that."

"And why can't I have it Kisuke?" she asked calmly. "Are you saying that it's your policy to seize goods that your customers have already paid for?"

"Hey, I'll give you a full refund," Kisuke tried to argue with her. "How does that sound to you?"

"That's OK. I'm completely satisfied with my purchase. Besides, we both know that you're operating outside the law. And I also know that it's not your job to recall this Mod Soul." She smirked at him confidently.

"I just hope you know what you're getting involved in," Kisuke said flatly. "Don't blame me if you get into trouble."

"I won't. I've already dealt with a lot of trouble since I've been here." She walked over to Ichigo and handed him the pill. "I think we're done here. You can leave now."

"Fine," Kisuke said. "Let's go." And with that, he and his small entourage left.

Rukia turned to look at the others, and saw that they were beaming at her. "What?" she asked. Suddenly she was swept up into a hug, courtesy of Yang.

"I knew you had a heart!" The blond girl exclaimed, almost crushing Rukia with the force of her hug. She looked at the others. "Come on! Everyone get in on this!"

"That really isn't necessary," Rukia wheezed. "Can't breathe."

"Nonsense," Pyrrha said, joining into the group hug.

"Come on, Blake," Yang prodded. Blake simply rolled her eyes and joined in.

"You too, Ichigo."

"Yeah, I'll pass," he said.

* * *

The five teenagers were heading home later that evening. Rukia had stopped back at the school to get her blazer and change Ichigo's classmates' memories. They were walking near a construction site when Ichigo stopped to clutch his injured shoulder in pain.

"You're really feeling it," Rukia observed.

"Sure am," he said. "That Mod Soul really took my body for a pretty rough test drive." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pill, holding it in his palm. "You tried to wreck me," he said angrily to the pill. Obviously, the pill didn't answer. This only made Ichigo madder. "Hey, are you even listening to me?" The girls looked at him with blank expressions.

"I must say, you look awfully silly yelling at a pill in public like that," Rukia said.

"You don't seriously expect it to answer you, do you?" Blake asked. Ichigo grumbled.

"I still want to tell him how I feel," he said. "Help me out here. Is there a way I can give this damn Mod Soul what's coming to him?"

"You need to insert him into a body," Rukia said. "Either a dead one or one that doesn't have a soul."

"I get it," he said, looking around. "I'm looking hard for a dead body. And when I find it, BAM, is he gonna get it!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you'll be able to just find a corpse lying around," Yang said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up," he said, aggravated. Then something caught his eye. "What do we have here?" Up against a wall next to them was a pile of garbage, and sitting atop it was a stuffed lion doll. He walked up to the doll. "So let me get this straight. You're saying a non-living object could work for this, right?"

"You want to put him in that stuffed animal?" Pyrrha asked.

"How did you get that from what she said?" Blake asked incredulously.

"Technically speaking," Rukia said, looking like she was deep in thought, "the four of us aren't in real human bodies, so I guess it could work."

"Alright," Ichigo said, "so what do I do?"

"I imagine you would put the pill in his mouth."

"You don't seriously think this will work, do you?" Blake asked in disbelief.

"You can't tell me you aren't at least a little curious," Yang said.

"I just know that this is really dumb."

"Like this?" Ichigo asked, putting the pill in the stuffed lion's mouth. He pushed the pill past its lips, but nothing happened. Ichigo picked it up by the arm and dangled it in front of his face.

"Told you," Blake said. Ichigo and the other girls huddled around the lion, staring at it thoughtfully.

"So you got any ideas that might work?" Ichigo asked.

"That should have worked," Rukia said.

"Or you could just admit that it was a stupid idea," Blake said. Ichigo started spinning the stuffed animal by the arm, when it suddenly looked up at him and grabbed his hand to stop him.

"That hurts, nimrod!" the stuffed lion yelled, stunning everyone, especially Blake.

"And you said it wouldn't work," Yang said playfully to Blake, who just grumbled in protest. The stuffed animal pushed off of Ichigo and landed a few feet away from him before striking what he must have thought was a tough-looking pose, pointing at the orange-haired teen.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," he yelled, "I hereby challenge to a no-holds-barred duel!"

"Count me in," Ichigo said, towering over the stuffed animal.

"Hey wait!" the lion said. "When did you grow big? Or did I somehow shrink?" He looked down to get a good look at his new body "What happened? I'm in a super cute plush toy with soft paw pads and no muscle. This isn't fair!"

"Hey Mod Soul, relax," Ichigo said, crouching down to his level. "Time for some payback for what you were doing in my body earlier." He grabbed the lion by the head aggressively. "Your little field trip could have taken me out completely. I need to make you understand."

"Guess I'm just gonna have to mop the floor with you just the way I am!" He started punching Ichigo's arm, only to cause ineffective squeaks.

"Oh, that's right!" Rukia yelled suddenly. "I completely forgot!"

"What?" Blake asked, being surprised by her sudden outburst.

"I got things for the three of you from Kisuke when I got the Mod Soul."

"Aw," Yang cooed playfully. "Presents for us? You shouldn't have."

"How thoughtful of you," Pyrrha said.

"They're not 'presents' exactly," Rukia said. "I got you some weapons."

"Really?" Yang asked, getting a little excited. Rukia reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a set of brass knuckles.

"I meant to give these to you earlier, but I left them in my blazer and then forgot about them," she said, giving the brass knuckles to Yang.

"Awesome!" the blond exclaimed, sliding them onto her hands. Rukia pulled out two small black cylinders. She handed both of them to Blake.

"What are they?" the Faunus asked.

"Press the buttons on the sides," Rukia said. Blake did just that, and blades extended from the ends of them. She gave a few practice swings.

"Nice," she said. Rukia pulled another object out of her pocket, this time a very short silver cylinder. She handed this one to Pyrrha.

"Same with yours, press the button on the side." The redhead pressed the button, and the cylinder extended to form a long staff. Pyrrha looked at it in appreciation.

"Thank you very much," she said.

"I asked Kisuke to get weapons like that for you so you could easily conceal them," Rukia explained. "Since you seem to keep getting caught up in fights with the Hollows, I figured it would be helpful to get you three some new weapons so you can at least have an easier time defending yourselves if one shows up. Now this by no means gives you permission to go out looking for Hollows to fight. They are just for self-defense. Understand?"

"Yes, mom," Yang said, annoyed. She turned to Ichigo, who was still wailing on the stuffed lion. "Hey, Ichigo. Let me get a few swings in. I want to test out my new toys."

The lion gave a wail of pure despair.

* * *

"Hey Ichigo! It's morning! Get up!" The lion yelled. He was standing on top of Ichigo's desk, looking down at his sleeping form. He jumped off the desk and landed on Ichigo's chest. "Rise and shine!" He started throwing ineffectual punches at Ichigo's chin, but the teenager didn't budge. "Don't try to play dead with me, you lazy Soul Reaper wannabe! I know you!" Ichigo's eyes started to flutter open. "I'm warning you, if you don't get your butt out of bed, I'll hide in your backpack and go to school with you! And all the girls will say, 'poor Ichigo is a big baby because he brings his widdle baby teddy to school', and—" He was interrupted when Ichigo grabbed him by the head and lifted him up. Ichigo just glared at him and threw him at the closet door.

"I can't have you starting the day that wound up," he said. "Make like a real stuffed animal and shut up, Kon." The stuffed lion, now dubbed "Kon", rubbed the back of his head and stood up, pointing his paw at Ichigo indignantly.

"And just where did you come up with that name for me?" He demanded.

"We named you Kon because it's short for Mod Konpaku. That means 'Mod Soul'."

"You're not the boss of me! And I want a say in this! Please call me 'Mod' instead," he said, putting his hands together sweetly as he said this. "That sounds like a cooler name, doesn't it? Huh? Plush Bod Mod! Now that's a snappy name!"

"No way," Ichigo said flatly.

"Why not?" Kon asked angrily.

"Because you're right. 'Mod' does sound cool, but there's nothing cool about you."

"You think you can just tell me that I –"

"I will not stand for all this commotion!" Rukia said, throwing open the closet door. She and the other girls were already dressed in their uniforms, and Rukia knew enough to not wear the blazer this time. "I like getting dressed in peace." She jumped out of the closet, and the group heard a squeaking noise and an exclamation of "Ow!". They looked down and saw that she had stepped on Kon's head when she jumped out of the closet. What was worse, he had a clear view right up her skirt. He chose to treat it like it was no big deal and hope she didn't notice.

"I was just telling Ichigo my name should be 'Mod'. Don't you agree? It's better than Kon." Unfortunately for him, Rukia had noticed where his eyes were pointing. She instantly kicked him across the room so hard that he bounced off the opposite wall and went flying back in the direction of the closet, colliding with an unsuspecting Yang. Much to her shock, he immediately began nuzzling his body against her chest. Her eyes turned red, she grabbed him by the head, pulled him off of her, and punched him into the floor, where Rukia started stomping on his face. They were interrupted by a voice on the other side of his bedroom door.

"Knock knock," Yuzu's voice called. "Ichigo, I'm coming in." Ichigo panicked, grabbed Rukia and Kon, and stuffed them back in the closet, closing the door behind them. Yuzu opened the bedroom door and strode into the room.

"I thought you'd like to know that your friends are down—" She stopped when she saw him pressing his body up against his closet door. "What are you doing?"

"Me?" he asked, sweating bullets. "What am I doing? I-I'm doing yoga. You know, stretching myself in new ways. I saw this pose on a bus bench."

"I think the bus in your brain has been gone for a long time," Yuzu said. "By the way, Mizuiro and Keigo are downstairs waiting for you."

"They are?" He asked, grabbing his alarm clock. "Wow! Look at what time it is! I gotta get going quick!" He quickly started to get undressed, despite Yuzu still being present. She averted her gaze.

"Your breakfast is ready, so you'd better get downstairs," she said as she left the room. Once he had his uniform on, he walked up to the window and called down to his two friends who were waiting outside.

"Check it out guys, I just woke up!" he called. "Hang on! I'll be right there!"

"It's all good!" Keigo called back up to him. "We'll see you in a minute!"

"Yeah, take your time!" Mizuiro shouted. "But hurry up!" The boys walked down the street a ways to wait for him around the corner.

"Hey, Rukia," Ichigo said once they were gone, moving away from the window. The door to the closet opened, and Kon fell out, having been pressed up against the door when Ichigo shoved them in.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The memories of my classmates. You erased them again, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," she answered, jumping out of the closet.

"After what happened yesterday, I'd assume that was a given," Yang said. "You really don't want your classmates to remember you coming on to them, right?"

"Damn right I wouldn't want that." He started rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "That was a day I wish I could forget."

_ But I do feel like I'm forgetting something,_ the thought. He walked over to his alarm clock and took another look at the time, and paused when he saw the date displayed on it. June 16. The girls had walked over to the other window in his room, and Rukia was getting ready to jump out of it. They had to do this to leave to make sure his family didn't see them.

"We're leaving now, Ichigo," Rukia said.

"See you at school," Pyrrha said pleasantly. He gave no response. He simply stared out the window absentmindedly. "Ichigo?"

"Are you OK?" Blake asked.

"Oh yeah, it's tomorrow," he said quietly to himself. Yang looked at him for a few seconds.

"You guys go on ahead," she said to the other girls. "I'll catch up."

"Alright, just don't take too long," Rukia said. The three remaining girls jumped out the window, leaving Ichigo and Yang alone in the room. She walked up to him.

"Hey, Ichigo," she said. He just continued spacing out. She tried calling his name again. Still no response. She put her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you OK?" she asked him.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"It's nothing."

"Look, Ichigo, I can tell that something's bothering you. Trust me, I know from personal experience that nothing good happens when you don't tell your friends what's bothering you." Her words conjured up memories of her old life in her. She remembered when Jaune refused to tell his friends when he was being bullied by Cardin, and the huge mess that turned into, especially for him and Pyrrha. She remembered when Blake refused to tell her friends about her status as a Faunus, and the blowout that turned into when the truth finally came out in the worst way. And finally, she remembered when Blake allowed her obsession with the White Fang to take over her life and almost ruin her health. She wasn't about to let it happen here. "Come on, you can tell me."

"Nothing is bothering me," he said, clearly growing impatient.

"Why are you lying to me?"

"Just shut up!" he yelled suddenly, taking her by surprise. "Why the hell can't you just mind your own damn business for once?"

Yang was taken aback by his sudden outburst. After a few seconds, she simply glared at him and stormed off, jumping out of the window and leaving Ichigo all alone.

* * *

"Excuse me, Tatsuki," a girl called. Her name was Michiru, and she had short brown hair, with her bangs held up with a red "X"-shaped hairpin. She was holding a large sketch pad in her hands. "You take art class, don't you?"

"Yeah," the girl in question responded. She was sitting at her desk, and Orihime had pulled up a chair to sit next to her.

"So did you do our assignment, the one that was on our future?"

"How we see ourselves in the future, you mean?" Tatsuki asked.

"Can I see yours?" Michiru asked. "I drew one, but it's not very good."

"Sure," Tatsuki said, reaching into her bag and grabbing her sketch pad. She flipped it open and revealed a very well-done drawing of herself as a boxing champion.

"Wow," Michiru said. "You did a great job."

"That's me," Tatsuki said proudly. "It shows how I'm going to be the first female Vale Tudo champion.

"This is awesome," the other girl said dejectedly. "My drawing looks so lame, I don't even want to show it to any of you." She looked to the strawberry-blond next to Tatsuki. "So Orihime, can you show me what you drew?"

"I'd love to," she said cheerfully. "I'm glad you asked to see it, because secretly, I'm very proud of what I did."

"Great! I can't wait to see it!" Her enthusiasm was greatly diminished upon actually seeing what Orihihime drew. For some strange reason, the girl drew herself as a giant robot with tank treads instead of legs, claw hands, and missile launchers in her chest. She was evidently in the middle of a rampage, as she was positioned in front of a burning city.

"Ta-da!" Orihime yelled happily. "I'll have a velocity of 240 miles per hour! A 20,000 degrees Celsius flame thrower will shoot from my mouth, and my eyes will project destruction beams!"

"Orihime, what have you done? You'll get detention for that!"

"Come on, it's not that bad," she argued. Just then, she saw Ichigo walk into the classroom, his scowl deeper than it usually was. Right behind him were Rukia, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha. "Hey, good morning, Ichigo!" He stopped walking, and turned to look at her.

"Hi, Orihime," he said with a smile on his face. "How's it going?" Everyone was shocked, except for Yang, who just looked at him angrily.

"What's up with Ichigo?" Michiru asked. "He never says 'Hi' or acts friendly with anyone. It's really strange. It's almost like he's in a good mood." Orihime wasn't paying attention, and was just staring blankly at Ichigo.

"Trust me," Yang spoke up. "He is definitely not in a good mood."

"What do you mean?" Tatsuki asked.

"This morning, I noticed something was wrong with him, but I when I asked, he yelled at me to mind my own business." Tatsuki looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Hey, Michiru," she called, "What's the date today?" The girl checked her watch.

"It's June 16."

"I knew it." They could hear Ichigo laughing, and looked at him goofing around with Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo. "Yang's right. He's definitely not in a good mood today."

"Tastsuki?" Orihime said.

"Don't worry about it. I know why he's acting like this. And I'll bet you tomorrow, Ichigo's going to skip school altogether." The bell rang, so the students got into their seats to start class.

* * *

"I put up a sign saying we'll be closed tomorrow," Isshin said to his three kids. They were having a family meeting to discuss their plans for tomorrow. "Time for our meeting. First order is to go over everyone's jobs for tomorrow. And as chairman, I have final say in all decisions!"

"As if," Karin protested, standing up from her seat. "What kind of a meeting is this, and who made you chairman?"

"Hey, hey," Isshin said sternly, pointing at her. "You must raise your hand if you wish to speak, Chief of Staff!"

"Hold on," Karin said, pointing to herself in disbelief, an uncharacteristic sparkle in her eyes. "I'm Chief of Staff?"

"Yuzu," their father said, pointing to his other daughter, "you have been appointed to be Secretary of Lunch."

"Aye Aye, Chairman!" Yuzu said, giving her father a salute.

"Karin, you will load our packs." She instantly snapped out of her stupor.

"I thought I was Chief of Staff," she said angrily.

"Did I say 'Chief of Staff'? I meant 'Chief of Stuff'."

"Oh, come on!" she protested.

"Now, off to bed! That's an order!"

* * *

"We need to talk about your behavior today," Rukia said to him. She was already in the pajamas she stole from Yuzu, and was standing in front of the closet with her arms folded in front of her sternly. The other girls were sitting in their bunks in the closet, also in their pajamas. Ichigo knew since he snapped at Yang earlier that he'd have to discuss this, so he had been avoiding them all day. Since they were staying in his room, he couldn't dodge it any longer. He kept his back turned to them as they spoke.

"You've been acting weird all day," Pyrrha said worriedly. "We can tell that something's up."

"And you've been flat out rude to me," said Yang, irritated. Blake said nothing.

"Just based off of what I heard at your meeting, I would normally think you were just skipping school to go on a family picnic or something, but your abnormal behavior tells me something is wrong," Rukia said. Ichigo sighed.

"Fine. I'll tell you. We're not going on a family picnic. We're going to the cemetery."

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Because tomorrow is the anniversary."

"Huh?" the girls were confused.

"It's the anniversary of my mom's death," he said. The girls were silent. He turned around to face them. "Actually, it's the day she was killed."

* * *

It had started to rain over Karakura. Orihime watched it fall from the window. The conversation from earlier that she had with Tatsuki kept playing over and over in her mind.

_Why is it that the rain makes me want to cry?_ She thought. _Sometimes I wish I were the rain so I could touch people and feel their feelings, and maybe connect with their hearts. Maybe then, I might be able to understand his pain._

* * *

Ichigo was dreaming. Dreaming about that day in the rain. Walking home with his mother near the river. Seeing that dark-haired girl by the river bank. He watched himself run towards her.

"No, don't go," he said out loud, clutching his head. He watched himself run down the embankment towards the river. He heard his mother try to stop him. And the next thing he saw was his mother's bloodied corpse on top of him.

"Why did I do it?" he asked in his sleep. "Why did I go?" The girls were listening from inside the closet, and they could only listen and guess at what his words could possibly mean.

* * *

Elsewhere, a Soul Reaper with short black hair was playing with spinning tops with a large group of kids. He was cheering for his own top, when it got launched out of the ring.

"I lost!" he lamented.

"Yeah! I did it!" the boy who defeated him exclaimed.

"Good job!" said a girl next to him.

"One more time, OK?" the Soul Reaper asked. "I bet I won't lose this time." The kids started to laugh, but then the Soul Reaper noticed someone approach him. Judging by his Shihakusho, he was another Soul Reaper, but this one was wearing a black cloth mask that only left his eyes revealed. He was staring at the masked man, when one of the kids got his attention.

"Is something the matter, mister?"

"Uh, I forgot about something I need to attend to," he said to the kids.

* * *

"So tell me, who is it today?" the Soul Reaper asked the masked man. They had taken their discussion to a nearby alleyway for some privacy.

"Rukia Kuchiki, from Squad 13," the masked man answered.

"Kuchiki," the Soul Reaper confirmed. "What offense has that young lady committed?"

"She has stayed for far too long in the human world." The Soul Reaper chuckled.

"Is that all?"

"I wouldn't be talking to you if that were all. There's something else going on out there. Find out what it is."

"So are you saying I can get rough if I have to?"

"Take care of it, quickly," the masked man said, walking away from him.

"I will. Rukia Kuchiki."

_To be Continued…_

**A/N: I actually planned to have Rukia give the girls their weapons last chapter, and then remembered that I had her take off her blazer. So, in order to avoid a plot hole, I had to save the reveal of their new weapons until this chapter.**

**Before I get to the announcement, I just want to say to RinneItachi: Thanks for all the reviews! Glad you're enjoying the story!**

**So, here's the plan for the next few chapters. The next two will be Ichigo dealing with Grand Fisher. I'm planning on some character development snd possibly some relationship-building, too. The chapter after that will be focused on the RWBY characters. They will not be accompanying Ichigo and Rukia to the filming of Don Kanonji's show. Instead, they will be exploring Karakura, and might get into a little bit of trouble. So, I would like to ask you guys: What would you like to see out of the RWBY girls going out for a night on the town. I would prefer you to PM me with your recommendations, though, so other people can't see them. I'll look through any that I get and put something together. Hopefully It'll be something you guys really enjoy.**

**I really can;t thank you all enough for the support. It really means a lot to me. Thank you all. I'll see you guys next time. Thank you for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I'm really sorry about the long wait, guys. I got really busy toward the end of the semester, and that left me with very little energy to write. Now that the semester is over, I don't anticipate having this problem for a while. Now then, on to chapter 9.**

Chapter 9: Mother

"So, what are we doing about this?" Yang asked. She was sitting in class with Rukia and her other Remnant friends. Just as Tatsuki had said he would, Ichigo had skipped school so he could help his family prepare for their trip to the cemetery. Yang herself hadn't said a word to him before they left him behind to go to school. The girls were discussing what they were going to do after school got out. "Do we feel comfortable just leaving him be?"

"Personally, I'm concerned about the things he was saying in his sleep," Pyrrha said.

"There's definitely something about the circumstances of his mother's death that he isn't telling us," Blake said.

"When we get out of school, I'm going to meet him at the cemetery," Rukia chimed in.

"Why?" Yang asked.

"Because, I know this sounds cold, but he can't afford to take a day off, even today. I need to be with him in case a Hollow shows up. What will the three of you do?"

"I think," Yang said sadly, remembering Ichigo's lashing out the day before. They still hadn't patched things up yet. "I'm going to stay out of his way." She felt guilty for pushing the issue. In hindsight, she shouldn't have tried to force him to talk about something that was clearly affecting him so much. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel hurt by what he said. _Why does it hurt so much?_ She thought. _It's like he said, it wasn't my business._

"I agree with Yang," Pyrrha said. "It wouldn't feel right, intruding on something so personal."

"Same here," said Blake.

"That sounds fair," Rukia said. "To be honest, I'd rather not go either, but I don't have a choice." A silence fell over the four girls. They simply didn't feel comfortable continuing this particular conversation, but at the same time, the silence felt almost suffocating. Thankfully, a certain cheerful strawberry-blond jumped in to break the awkward tension.

"Hi there!" Orihime said happily, Tatsuki standing behind her. The girls returned her greeting. "You all hang around Ichigo a lot, right?"

"Yeah," Yang said.

"Do you know where he is today?"

"No, we don't," Blake lied.

"Oh,"

"So, did you need something?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking," Orihime said. "We don't really know each other that well, so I was wondering of you wanted to hang out with me and Tatsuki after school."

"Yeah," Tatsuki said. "Orihime and I were going to chill at my place, and you're more than welcome to join in."

"That sounds wonderful," Pyrrha said with her trademark smile.

"Sure," Blake said with a small smile.

"Why not?" Yang said. _This will help me get my mind off Ichigo at least_.

"What about you, Rukia?" Orihime asked.

"Sorry," Rukia said with her fake smile. "I had other plans. Some other time, maybe."

"OK!" Orihime said. "Another time, then."

* * *

"Boy, we're never going to get to the top," Yuzu complained, fanning herself with her hand. The Kurosaki family were walking up a rather steep hill to get to the cemetery. Karin and Yuzu were pretty far ahead of Isshin and Ichigo, and the absolutely sweltering heat was starting to get to Yuzu.

"Speak for yourself," Karin said dismissively. "This hill's no problem. And please, don't let Dad hear you say that." As if on cue, they heard their father's voice calling them from further down the hill.

"You can do it, Yuzu!" He yelled. The twins turned and saw that he was standing on his hands for some absurd reason. "Hang in there! You see? Dad's on your side!"

"Now you did it," Karin deadpanned. "Just ignore him, or he'll never stop." She turned around and continued walking up the hill. "Giving guys like him attention only encourages them."

"You're wrong about that," Isshin said as he started running up the hill at break-neck speeds on his hands. "I'm automatically encouraged, even if you ignore me!"

"Get out of here, you creep!" Karin yelled, kicking him in the face and sending him tumbling back down the hill. "Now we can walk in peace for a while," she said, calmly continuing the walk. Ichigo looked back up at his sisters, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Phew," he panted. "Man, it's hot. Even for the middle of June, this kind of heat's a little unusual." He briefly remembered that day again, with his mother.

_That day was also June 17,_ he thought. _But it was completely different_.

"Someone's up there already." Karin's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Wow," Yuzu said. "She had to climb up here pretty early to beat us to the top."

"Yeah," Karin said. "Although…" Ichigo finally saw who they were looking at, and nearly jumped out of his skin. Right there, at the top of the hill, wearing a yellow sundress and a backpack, waving a white wide-brimmed hat at him, and laughing cheerfully, was Rukia. "Doesn't she seem awfully cheery for someone visiting a grave?" Yuzu turned to look at Ichigo.

"She's waving like she knows you," she said to him.

"No way!" Ichigo yelled, shaking his head furiously. "Nope! Never seen her before!"

"There is something familiar about her," Karin said thoughtfully. "I wonder if I've seen her somewhere before."

"No, don't say that!" Ichigo yelled, beginning to panic. "Hey, I just remembered. I think I do know her! In fact, she's a girl from my class back in middle school. Maybe I should go talk to her or something, you know? I'll go and have a little chat with her, and you two go on ahead to Mom's grave without me, OK?" He broke out into a sprint, grabbed Rukia by the hand, and sped off down the street with her, completely disappearing from the twins' sight within seconds.

"Ichigo!" Yuzu called out exasperatedly.

"Aha," Karin said, giving a cheeky smirk in Ichigo's general direction.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Karin?"

"What it means is our Ichigo has finally grown up and become a man."

* * *

"Why did you follow me here, Rukia?" Ichigo demanded. He had brought her to a trail in the woods to talk.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "I'm here in case a Hollow shows up. You certainly can't handle it yourself."

"Way to keep a low profile in front of my family," he scolded. "Why were you waving at me like that?"

"I suppose I could have been more discreet," she admitted. "I just didn't think of it."

"That's OK," he said, managing to calm himself down fairly quickly. "So is it just you, or are the others around, too?" he asked apprehensively. In truth, he really hoped they weren't there. Things between him and Yang in particular had been awkward since he yelled at her the day before.

"No, it's just me. The others didn't want to disturb you."

"OK then," he breathed a sigh of relief. "So what are you upset about?"

"I'm not upset about anything," she said matter-of-factly. "Listen, about your mother, I heard you mention that someone killed her. But you never said _who_ killed her."

"Listen, just drop it, OK?" he said, growing uncomfortable with the current conversation. She ignored him.

"When I first met you, you said you'd been able to see spirits since you were very young. I need you to answer one question for me. Is it possible that your mother was killed by a Hollow?" His body instantly tensed up the second the question left her mouth. She didn't notice it, and she continued talking. "If your spiritual capabilities were that high as a child, then there may have been a Hollow that sensed you. And when it came after you, it could have killed your mo—"

"Stop it!" He screamed. "Just shut up! Why does everything always have to be about Hollows with you? There was no freaking Hollow there that day, alright?" He unconsciously clenched his fists tight as he spoke. "You'll never understand the pain and suffering I have to live with every single day." She only stared at him in silence. He began to walk past her, heading back to the cemetery. "So sorry to wreck your theory, but all the usual suspects, like Hollows, serial killers, thugs, they're not to blame. I am."

"Huh?" she was completely stunned by what he had just said, and she couldn't stop him from breaking out into a run away from her.

"Wait, Ichigo!" she called to him, but he wasn't listening.

* * *

"And then he comes out in a DRESS!" Yang regaled, causing the other girls in the room to burst out laughing, particularly Orihime and Tatsuki. They had changed out of their school uniforms and were hanging out in Tatsuki's bedroom, talking and munching on snacks, having a great time. Orihime had changed into a yellow top with white straps and a long purple skirt, and Tatsuki was wearing a long sleeved red shirt and grey pants. Yang was wearing her yellow cropped tank top, but hadn't worn the jacket because of the heat. Blake was wearing her white cropped zip-up jacket, and Pyrrha was wearing her black pull-over hoodie and denim miniskirt. The three new girls were telling stories to Orihime and Tatsuki about their home, obviously leaving certain details out, such as it being a completely different world or the fact that they were dead. Yang was currently retelling the story of the school dance during the girls' second semester. "He then walks right up to Pyrrha and pulls her into a dance."

"Really?" Orihime asked between laughs.

"Yes, it's true," Pyrrha said, blushing faintly at the memory of Jaune.

"Ooooooooh," Tatsuki cooed teasingly. "I know that look. You get some action later?"

"Oh, no!" Pyrrha yelled, waving her arms frantically to dismiss the misunderstanding. "We weren't even dating! He was just trying to cheer me up."

"What do you mean?" Orihime asked.

"I was fairly popular at our school," Pyrrha explained.

"That's an understatement," remarked Blake.

"Yes. Jaune assumed that boys would be falling all over themselves to ask me to the dance, so he joked that if I didn't have a date, he'd wear a dress. And I didn't have a date."

"How?" Tatsuki asked.

"Well, everyone just assumed I was out of their league, so no one asked. When he found out, he changed into a dress, and there we were, out on the dance floor."

"Awwww," Orihime cooed. "That's so sweet!"

"So you started dating him after that, right?" asked Tatsuki. "I mean, he puts a dress on in public for you, you start dating him."

"Sadly, no," Pyrrha frowned, greatly confusing the other two girls.

"Jaune was as dense as a bag of rocks," Yang said. "He thought he was just doing something nice for his friend, but didn't know how she felt about him. He actually had eyes for our friend Weiss."

"Oh, that sucks!" Tatsuki lamented.

"Yes, I suppose it does," Pyrrha said sadly. The girls fell silent when they saw the genuinely downtrodden look on the redhead's face. The silence lingered for several seconds until Orihime decided to break it.

"So," she began. "I think I may have finally figured out the mystery of Ichigo."

"The what now?" Yang asked.

"I think Ichigo is actually some kind of superhero, and he's here on a mission to protect Earth!"

"A superhero?" Tatsuki asked.

"Seriously?" asked Blake, the irony of who she was saying this to not lost on her or the other girls from Remnant. Tatsuki chuckled.

"The first time I saw your 'superhero'," she started, "we were both only four. I was at the dojo where I started my training, and I saw him come in for the first time. He was holding his mom's hand. She was so beautiful. But what I noticed most was his incredible orange hair, and his big, goofy grin."

"That sounds adorable," Pyrrha cooed, finally starting to feel better after being reminded of Jaune.

"I really can't picture him with a 'goofy grin'," said Blake.

"Yeah, I don't think he's so much as smiled since we met him," said Yang.

"As soon as I saw him," Tatsuki continued, "I knew he wouldn't last too long. He was just too skinny and weak. In fact, in our first match, I made him cry with a single punch. I just reached out and poked him with a soft one, and that was all she wrote. One quick shot, and he was down for the count."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Ichigo here?" Yang asked.

"I'm positive. In fact, he cried every time he lost. But then the most amazing thing would always happen. When his mom would come to pick him up, even if he was still sobbing, as soon as he saw her, that big smile would break out across his face again. He was such a baby. I mean, what kind of kid smiles when he just lost a fight? I didn't get it. Here was this total wimp, just a complete momma's boy, and yet he seemed to be so happy all the time, like life was just one big ride, no worries at all. He was a happy kid because of his mom."

"So, what happened to him?" Orhime asked. "What made him change so drastically?" The girls from Remnant could probably guess what Tatsuki was about to say. The black-haired girl's face became somber.

"When we were nine, she died." Orihime gasped at this revelation, and the other girls simply looked down sadly, Yang in particular.

_I knew that losing her would change him, but I never thought it would be that drastic_, she thought. Tatsuki continued telling her story.

"He didn't come to school that day, of course. I was kind of worried because no one seemed to know where he was or if he was OK. It seemed so unfair. No nine-year-old kid can handle that kind of grief alone. So I went looking for him everywhere I thought he might have gone. I finally found him by the river, right where his mother had died, just wandering around in circles. He'd crouch down when he got tired, then he'd get up and keep walking. For days I watched him. He did that from morning til night, like he was waiting for her to come back. I hated seeing him that way. The happy Ichigo was gone."

"How sad," Orihime commented.

"I can't believe he had to go through something like that when he was so young," said Pyrrha. Yang was deep in thought about what Tatsuki said. She kept remembering the things she heard Ichigo say in his sleep. "_Why did I do it?_" Something clicked in her head.

_He blames himself for her death_, she realized._ I don't know what happened, but somehow, he blames himself for it._ Her hands unconsciously clenched into fists. _That's why he didn't want to talk about it with me. He feels ashamed. He needs help. I don't care what he says to me, he needs someone there for him._ She stood up.

"I'm sorry, girls," she said. "I just remembered something I have to do. I'm gonna have to go take care of it." Blake and Pyrrha looked at her in confusion, but didn't say anything. "Thanks for having me over Tatsuki. We'll have to spar somtime. I'm a hell of a martial artist, if I do say so myself."

"Anytime," Tatsuki said.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," she said to whole room, before walking over to Tatsuki's front door, putting her shoes back on, and walking out.

* * *

Rukia was sitting on a ridge overlooking the cemetery, contemplating what Ichigo had told her.

"Ichigo killed his mother?" she asked out loud to herself. She thought back to their conversation from earlier, and remembered her insistence that a Hollow might have killed his mother. "I can't believe I said that," she said in disgust. "How insensitive." The backpack on her back began to rustle.

"Hey Rukia, yoo-hoo," Kon's voice called from inside the bag, opening it up and sticking his arm out so he could pull himself the rest of the way out, taking a deep breath after doing so.

"What are you doing, Kon?" she demanded. "I told you not to come out until I said so."

"Give me a break," he said, exasperated. "I can hardly even breathe inside here, Rukia. I need oxygen, stat. When are we going back home, anyway?" he whined.

"I told you before," she scolded. "It's my duty to always stay close to Ichigo so I can help him if a Hollow shows up."

"Hollows?" Kon asked, pouting deeply. "You're like a broken record. That's all you ever talk about. 'Hollow' this, 'Hollow' that. I think you need to get out more, maybe make some more new friends!" As he said this, she stood up quickly, jostling him from his perch and causing him to fall out of the backpack. "Hey!" he yelled, climbing back onto her back. She responded by shushing him. She seemed to be listening closely. After a few seconds, she heard what sounded like a snort. She quickly turned around to look at the woods, searching for the source of the noise.

"What is that?" Kon asked, fear apparent in his voice. Rukia started to slowly stalk into the woods, her eyes peeled for whatever was making the noise. As she drew closer, the noise began to sound distinctly like snoring. Suddenly, a pair of arms shot up from underneath the shade of a nearby tree, causing Rukia to jump backwards in surprise. The arms belonged to a man in a black Soul Reaper Shihakusho, and had a large hat on his head. He finished his stretch and yawned deeply.

"That was a nice little nap," he said groggily. He noticed Rukia standing near him. "Hello there, comrade."

"You…" Rukia said, glaring at him, as Kon fell off her back again. The Soul Reaper chuckled and rolled away from the tree, before standing up and facing her, gripping the sheath of his Zanpakuto with his left hand, and scratching the back of his head with his right hand.

"Sorry," he said. "I hate to be caught napping but these missions get so dull sometimes that I just can't seem to stay awake."

Kon got a good look at the man's sword, and the color would have drained from his face, if his body had blood in it instead of stuffing. "A Soul Reaper?" he gasped. "Not good," he said, as he ran off to get help. "Not good at all."

"Mission?" Rukia asked the Soul Reaper, glaring at him warily. "What kind of mission are you on?" The Soul Reaper chuckled.

"Don't you know, Rukia?"

* * *

_"Goodbye, Tatsuki!" a young Ichigo said cheerfully to his friend. His mother had just come to pick him up from the dojo, and it had started raining._

_ "Bye, Ichigo!" Tatsuki said. "See you at the dojo tomorrow!"_

_ The dojo was located on a small side street, and they were approaching an intersection to turn onto the main street. Ichigo was wearing a yellow raincoat and both he and his mother were holding umbrellas. Ichigo walked a little bit ahead of her. As he approached the road, a truck sped by, splashing him with water._

_ "Oh, that careless driver," his mother said, pulling a handkerchief out of her breast pocket. "Are you all right?" She leaned down and used the handkerchief to wipe off his face. "Let me switch places with you and walk next to the street so that doesn't happen again."_

_ "Nah, you don't have to do that," he said. "I'm the one with the raincoat on, so I don't mind. Let me protect you from stuff like that, OK?"_

_ "What a brave boy," his mother said, giggling. "That's very sweet. But before you worry about protecting me, I think you should work on protecting yourself from that Tatsuki."_

_ "Come on," he whined. "I won a point from her the last time." This made his mother chuckle again._

_ "There you go," she said, smiling at him and removing the cloth from his face. "You're all cleaned up now. Let's go. And I'll walk on the street side this time."_

_ "Hey mom, can I—can I hold your hand, please?"_

_ "Of course you can," she said with a bright smile, holding out her hand for him to take hold._

* * *

_Ichigo and his mother were walking on the street near a river when he saw a black-haired girl standing by the riverbank. She had her hair in a bowl cut and was wearing a white robe. Ichigo stopped walking to look at her._

_ "What's that girl doing?" he asked. He watched as the girl took a step forward and moved to throw herself into the river. He knew he had to save her. He sprang into action, dropping his umbrella and sprinting down the embankment towards the girl. "I'll be right back!" he yelled._

_ "Ichigo, where are you going?" his mother yelled back to him. He didn't answer, and continued running towards the girl. "No, Ichigo, stop!" His mother dropped her umbrella and ran after him. The girl was about to fall into the water, and Ichigo reached out his hand to grab her. But then, his hand simply passed right through her. And then everything went dark._

* * *

_When Ichigo finally came to, it was still raining. He tried to move, but felt a heavy weight on his chest. He looked at his body to see what was weighing him down, and what he saw made him sick to his stomach._

_ Lying on top of him, with a large, bloody wound covering her back, was the corpse of his mother._

_ He could only scream._

* * *

_Hi, Mom_, Karin said in her head. She and Yuzu were standing in front of her mother's grave, Karin with her hands clapped together in prayer, and Yuzu was curled up in a ball_. I know it's been a while since we visited you. Sorry about that. But we're all doing pretty well. How have you been? Well, not that great I guess,_ _seeing as how you're dead and all. _The sound of sobbing snapped her out of her prayers. She looked down to see that Yuzu was crying. She was crouched down, and her head was resting against her knees, her shoulders bouncing with every sob that escaped. Karin crouched down so she was at the same level as her twin.

"Hey," she said to the distraught girl. "You can't keep bursting into tears every time we come here, you know. We're 11 years old. We're big kids now, for crying out loud." Yuzu looked up at her, and the light hitting her tears almost made it look as though her eyes were shimmering.

"I know," Yuzu said through her tears, "but this place just makes me so sad." She put her head back down and continued sobbing.

"Oh, Jeez. Are you sure you're really my sister?"

"I'll cheer you two up!" their father shouted. They turned around and saw him making a series of very bizarre movements while making gorilla noises for some strange reason. "It's time for the annual Kurosaki family headstone leaping and incense eating competition, so let's get started!" His enthusiasm was answered with a kick to the face, curtesy of Karin.

"You win for most annoying dad of the year!" she yelled as she sent him flying, knocking over a headstone with his head.

"I won already?" he asked. "But I was just getting started!"

"Can we trade in our dad?" Karin asked to no one in particular. "We really need to get a new model." Her dad got up and started running towards her.

"Here we go!" he yelled. "Loser's gotta wash my feet!" He was stopped in his tracks when Karin kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to double over in pain.

"Dad, that's disgusting!" She ran in the opposite direction as he quickly got up and began to chase her.

"Come back and fight like a man!"

Karin looked behind her while she was running, so she didn't see the girl standing in her way until after she ran into her. "Ow," she said as she fell on her butt. She looked up at the girl she ran into. She was greeted to the sight of a teenage girl with long blond hair, and a knockout figure. The girl was wearing a yellow cropped tank top, and black jeans.

"Oh, sorry about that," the blond girl said, holding out her hand to help Karin up. She took her hand gratefully.

"Uh, yeah," she said. _Who is this girl? She's not exactly dressed to be visiting a grave._

"My name's Yang," the older girl said. "What's your name?"

"Karin," she said warily. There seemed to be flash of recognition in Yang's eyes for some reason. The older girl walked past her and read the name on the gravestone. It said "Masaki Kurosaki". Karin watched as the older girl started looking around her, as if she was seeking something out specifically. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, don't mind me," Yang said.

* * *

"No more games," Rukia said to the Soul Reaper standing in front of her. "Who are you? Just answer me." The Soul Reaper chuckled.

"Rukia Kuchiki," he said, lifting his head up to see her face from behind his hat. She could see the wild grin he had on his face. "That's a name everybody at Soul Reaper Academy knows." His words surprised her. "Let's face it, you're famous. Adopted into the noble Kuchiki Family, you were known to the rest of the student body as the 'Princess of the Rukon District'. And I am Eikichiro Saido. You remember me now, don't you? I was older than you, but you know my reputation." Rukia only stared at him, no sign of recognition on her face. That clearly irritated Saido. "Maybe this'll ring a bell. They call me that really funny guy, right?"

"I've never heard of you," she said bluntly. Her words were like a dagger in his heart, if the way he recoiled was any indication.

"Oh well," he said. "No matter. I suppose we should get down to business." She put her hands up defensively, expecting a fight to break out at any time. "Hey, settle down. All you gotta do is answer a few questions."

_"You can't fake it forever, all right?"_ Kisuke's words came back to her. She suddenly had an idea of who this guy might be.

"Oh, wait," she said. "The Stealth Force." He pulled a string on his hat, causing a flap to open up on top that said "Correct" on it. He pulled the string over and over, causing the flap to open and close.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding," he said in time to the opening of the flap. "That is the correct answer!" This man very much confused her.

"Would you just knock it off!"

* * *

Kon was running through the woods, trying to find Ichigo. This was bad. Very bad. The Soul Society had finally decided to send someone after Rukia when she didn't return as expected. The last thing they needed now was for them to take her back and discover Kon's existence. Or Ichigo's status as a Substitute Soul Reaper. Or Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha being in gigai's despite not being registered.

He needed to find Ichigo, fast.

"Ichigo, help!" He screamed, tears somehow falling out of his glass eyes. "Emergency! Rukia's in trouble! Ichigo, where are you? Ichigo!" He came out of the grass and found himself perched precariously over the edge of a small cliff. Well, small for a human, but it seemed gargantuan to the little stuffed lion. Time seemed to freeze as he balanced on one leg near the edge.

_Uh-oh,_ he thought. _This can't be good_. He lost his balance and tumbled down the cliff, landing on the shoulders of one Ichigo Kurosaki, who was sitting on the ground. The teenager slowly stood up, Kon still staying put on his shoulders.

"I am really not in the mood for you right now, Kon!" Ichigo yelled, grabbing the lion by the back of the head and holding him in front of his face. Kon could see that his eyes were red and puffy, indicating that the boy had likely been crying a little bit ago. But that wasn't important right now.

"Rukia's in trouble!" the stuffed animal yelled, flailing his arms desperately.

* * *

"They're getting pretty irritated with you back there," Saido said. Rukia was staring him down, her guard full up. "They want to know why you're still here."

"I'm still here because the Hollows keep coming," she said evenly. "I keep getting orders, too. It's that simple."

"That doesn't explain why you're dressed like a high school girl," he said teasingly.

Rukia looked down at her dress in confusion, before covering herself with her arms defensively.

"What does it matter?" she yelled. "I'll wear whatever I want!"

"Oh, don't be embarrassed. It just looks like you're finally growing up into a woman."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Her question made Saido chuckle.

"Oh, stop, you're killing me. Why not admit it? You're involved with that kid whose mother was killed by a Hollow. The guy with the spiky hair?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you feel sorry for him, or are you looking for fun in the human world?"

"None of your business, Saido! Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you!"

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, my little flower. Everybody needs love. And I guess the best you could do was a human boy to get all smoochy with." She made good on her threat and began charging up a Kido, her hand glowing with a bright blue light. He quickly jumped away from her, left hand gripping the sheath of his zanpakuto. "No, huh? Too bad. That's the only excuse I think the Soul Society would have bought. If I don't get an answer from you that satisfies our superiors, I'll have to take you back, even if it means dragging you by the hair."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I could be."

"Well, Saido, I have no intention of returning until I'm done."

"Eh, I tried. But you leave me no choice." He drew his sword and entered a battle stance.

"Rukia!" an obnoxious, all-too-familiar voice yelled, surprising both Rukia and Saido. She looked and saw both Kon and Ichigo running towards her.

"Rukia!" Ichigo called. "Are you all right?" He stopped in between Rukia and Saido, and stared down the Soul Reaper. "Who are you? And what do you want here?"

"Well, what do you know? It's spiky head," Saido said. "Am I really visible to you, lover boy?"

"Kon, who is this clown?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know." Ichigo picked up Kon by the head angrily.

"You brought me here in a panic because you said it was an emergency, you furball!"

"Nevermind about me right now," Saido said. "Tell me about yourself, son. Just what do you do?"

"Ichigo, don't say it!" Rukia called to him, but he wasn't listening yet again.

"I'm a Substitute Soul Reaper." Saido looked at him, a wicked smile on his face.

"A Soul Reaper? Is that right? I'm still waiting for the punchline, because that has to be a joke." He lowered his head so they could no longer see his eyes behind his hat. "Oh, Rukia, that's a big mistake. What you've done is a serious crime."

"Huh? What does he mean?" Ichigo asked Rukia.

"Maybe it's better this way," Saido said. "It'll be more fun to kill a Soul Reaper imposter than just another dumb gigai. Let's do it!" He threw his hat in the air, revealing his slicked-back black hair. He raised his sword and charged at Ichigo, who held up Kon in front of him like a shield.

"Do what?" he asked in a panic. Saido jumped in the air and brought his sword down, a move that Ichigo side-stepped. Saido quickly spun around and swung his sword in a horizontal arc, and Ichigo was able to backstep that one and reached his hand in front of the stuffed lion's face.

"Come on, Kon!" he yelled. "Cough it up now!" He reached his hand inside Kon's mouth, causing the stuffed lion to start flailing uncontrollably. "Give it to me," he said as he felt his fingers touch the pill inside the lion's body.

"Now you die!" Saido yelled as he leaped with his sword raised over his head. Ichigo was able to pull the pill out and swallow it, ejecting his Soul Reaper form from his body, and leaving Kon behind. Ichigo instantly drew his sword and deflected Saido's attack, greatly confusing the other Soul Reaper. "Not bad. You're human, and yet you were able to transform. I'm interested in learning how you got that ability."

"I don't give explanations to anyone who attacks me or my friends," Ichigo said as he assumed a fighting stance.

"Wait, Ichigo," Rukia said, running up and standing in front of him with arms outstretched to her sides. "Just stay out of it. It's my battle, not yours."

"What can you do?" he said, pushing her aside. "You don't have your sword." He raised his sword and charged at the Soul Reaper, who just smirked and ran to meet him, their swords clashing.

* * *

Yang was starting to feel really uncomfortable with all the staring. One of Ichigo's sisters, Yuzu if Yang remembered correctly, was kneeling down in front of their mother's grave in prayer. The other one, Karin, had been staring at her suspiciously for the last 10 minutes. Their father had gone who-knows-where, leaving the three girls alone. After Yang looked at the name on the grave, she knew she had the right place, but for some reason Ichigo was nowhere to be seen. So, she chose to wait for him. Which was only made more uncomfortable by his sister trying to burn a hole in her forehead with her eyes. Finally, the dark-haired girl broke the silence.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Looking for someone?"

"Yeah, I guess," Yang replied nervously.

"You wouldn't happen to be looking for Ichigo, would you?"

"Yeah, I am," she admitted. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's not here," Karin said. "He ran off with another girl, sorry to say. Man, when did my brother become such a ladies' man?"

"Huh?"

"You poor soul. So how do you know my brother, anyway?"

"Uh, let's just say we go to school together." Yang couldn't very well admit that she'd been living in his closet, now could she?

"So, why are you looking for him?" Before Yang had a chance to answer her question, they both felt an overwhelming pressure in the air around them. It was powerful, and made them feel like they were being crushed.

"What the hell?" Yang asked through gritted teeth.

"Something's here," Karin said.

"What's wrong?" Yuzu asked. "What is it?"

"There you are," a deep voice said. It sent chills down Yang's spine, and clearly Karin's, too.

"Karin, you're scaring me," Yuzu said, still being unable to sense anything.

"Where is Dad?" Karin asked her sister.

"He told me he went to talk to the cemetery director."

"That's just great." The overwhelming presence got stronger, and Yang continued looking around for the source of all this power.

That's when she saw the Hollow.

It was large, with a body that looked like it was covered in green fur. He had thin red legs, similar to the legs of a chicken, and arms that looked like them as well. Its mask was white with red accents, and looked like it was smiling, and it had a long string-like appendage sticking out from its back that looked similar to a fishing lure. It was approaching Ichigo's sisters, whom Yang was standing behind. She reached into her pocket to pull out the brass knuckles that Rukia gave her.

"I'm going to have you keep me company for a while," the Hollow said. "The bigger the bait, the bigger the catch."

"What do you see?" Yuzu asked. The Hollow laughed as it approached the girls. It was then that Yang sprang into action, the brass knuckles on her hands. She ran past the girls and threw a punch straight to the Hollow's face, but to her surprise, it didn't so much as flinch.

"You can see it?" Karin asked.

"Run!" Yang yelled to the two girls. "Get out of here!"

"Karin, what's going on?" Yuzu asked.

* * *

Saido leaped high in the air with his zanpakuto raised above his head. He brought it down in a fierce overhead swing, but Ichigo deflected it. Saido used the force of Ichigo's deflection to soar through the air away from him. He planted his feet on the side of a tree, and pushed off it, launching himself back at the orange-haired teen. He swung hard with his zanpakuto, but the substitute was able to block it. Before Ichigo could counter, though, Saido landed and kicked him in the stomach, making the teen reel backwards in pain.

"Man, he's strong," said Kon, whom was currently inhabiting Ichigo's body. Ichigo was able to recover, and flipped away from Saido to catch his breath. He roared and charged, raising his sword high above his head. When he reached the Soul Reaper, he swung straight down, but Saido dodged it easily by simply pivoting on one foot. Saido brought his sword around and slashed horizontally, but Ichigo was able to duck under it, before deflecting another overhead swing from the Soul Reaper. He was forced to go on the defensive, as Saido unleashed an unrelenting series of attacks against him, before a hard swing impacting Ichigo's sword sent the teen tumbling away.

"You amateur," Saido said disappointedly to Ichigo, whom was sprawled out on the ground. "You try to use raw strength to cover for your lack of technique. You have no tactics and no skill at all."

"You shut your mouth," Ichigo growled, getting up and charging again. At that moment, Rukia's Soul Pager started beeping. She pulled it out and looked at the message, while Ichigo and Saido began trading blows again.

"What's that?" Saido asked after noticing what Rukia was doing.

"It's a Hollow!" Rukia said, clearly alarmed. Ichigo disengaged Saido and ran over to her.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"It's close. And it's big. Come look at this. The spirit energy reading is higher than usual."

"Yeah, it's way out of your league," said Saido, who had suddenly appeared behind Rukia, and was looking over her shoulder at the screen of her Pager. Ichigo and Kon looked at him for a second, before shouting in surprise.

"We gonna finish this now?" Ichigo asked with incredulity.

"Ichigo, there's no time for that," Rukia scolded. Your family may be in danger. Let's go!" The two of them ran off back in the direction of the cemetery, leaving Saido and Kon behind.

"Hey, wait," Saido called after them, but they were already gone.

* * *

Yang could only watch from her position on the ground as Karin was knocked to the ground by the Hollow. Yang had been knocked against the back wall, knocking the wind out of her. As she watched, the Hollow pressed down on Karin's back with it's foot, pinning her to the ground. Yuzu still couldn't see what was going on, so she ran towards her sister, whom was screaming in pain.

"What is Karin?" Yuzu asked. "What's happening?"

"No!" Yang shouted. "Stay back! It's dangerous!" Yuzu stopped running and looked at the blond in confusion. Yang was able to get her second wind, so she quickly got up and ran in between Yuzu and her sister.

"What's going on?" Yuzu asked, starting to grow scared.

"There's a monster here, and it has your sister pinned down."

"Oh, no!"

"Hey!" Yang yelled at the monster. "Let her go!"

* * *

"So, what did that guy mean back there about this being a serious crime?" Ichigo asked Rukia as they were running to confront the Hollow, Saido and Kon right on their tails. "I know giving me powers was against the rules, but was it really that bad?"

"Forget that," Rukia said. "You've got your own problems now. My scans show the Hollow is near your family. Actually, it looks like there's someone else there, too." They had reached a staircase, and continued their sprint down them, skipping several steps at a time.

"I know you want to ask me about my mother's death, don't you?" Ichigo asked her.

_Would you answer me if I did_? She thought. _That's your business. All I know is that for you, it's a deep, jagged wound. And because of that, I don't know what words to say. I don't know how to ask you about it without dredging up your pain all over again without tearing your heart completely apart. _"I'll wait for now," she said. "But when you want to talk, when you feel like you're ready to tell us about it, we'll be there to listen. Not just me, but Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha, too." They reached the end of the staircase, and took a sharp left turn and continued down the pathway. Saido jumped down to the walkway, and just stood there, rubbing the side of his head.

"This is a big mess," he said tiredly. "What do I do now? Heh, as if there's a question."

_To be continued…_

**AN: I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter, and again, sorry for the wait. So, onto some questions from the reviews.**

**Guest: I'm honestly not sure about doing the movies. I would certainly like to, as I really like the Bleach movies, but I'm really not sure. We'll have to see if I can figure out a way to incorporate them in an interesting way.**

**Matt: I'm not sure what you mean by half price discount bullcrap? Why would Ichigo not have his real zanpakuto? If you're referring to his post-timeskip swords, I'm going to follow canon in that regards just to keep him from being absurdly powerful right off the bat.**

**So, next chapter will be the conclusion to the Grand Fisher arc, and then a RWBY-focused chapter. I'm not intending for that chapter to be a full comedic break, as I don't think I'm clever enough for that, so it will still be used to further some character development and some relationships. I'm still taking suggestions for some stuff you'd like to see before things get serious in that chapter. I'll figure something out. **

**I've also been hit with sudden inspiration for another RWBY crossover. More on that in future chapters, though.**

**Thank you guys so much for reading! I'll see you next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Grand Fisher

Yang was standing in between Yuzu and the Hollow, who still had Karin pinned down under its foot. Her brass knuckles were still on her hands, and she struck a fighting pose.

"Let her go!" she yelled to the Hollow. He simply laughed in response. She knew she had no chance of beating this Hollow in a straight fight.

_I just need to get him to release Karin, then I can grab her and escape,_ she thought. She charged forward and cocked back her fist, planning to hit him in the face as hard as she could. She was about to hit him, when the lure attached to his back suddenly appeared in front of her face. And what she saw made her freeze in her tracks.

Before her eyes was a girl, about 15 years of age. She had black hair that framed her face, turning red at the tips. Silver eyes stared back at Yang's lilac. This girl's face was one Yang knew very well. After all, she grew up looking at it.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, stunned. She didn't understand. How was Ruby here? She should be back in Remnant. Did she die that day too, and they just never found her? Before she could really contemplate these questions, she felt a tentacle wrap itself around her neck and lift her up in the air.

"What's happening?" Yuzu asked, not being able to see what lifted Yang into the air.

"You're in the way," the Hollow said to Yang. "I need these two to lure in my real prey. You smell tasty, so you'll make a good appetizer." He opened his mouth wide, and moved to devour her, when the tentacle was suddenly severed by an orange-haired teen with a huge sword. Yang began to fall away from the Hollow once the tentacle let go of her, but she was caught by Ichigo.

"Yang?" he asked the blonde, who was gasping for air. "What are you doing here?"

"He's got Karin," Yang said to him, pointing at the Hollow. Ichigo turned at glared at the monster. The creature lifted up his foot and picked the girl up with his hand. He held her out in front, while she screamed in a mixture of pain and terror.

"Karin!" Ichigo yelled in concern.

"One hostage is all I need," the Hollow said. "I've been waiting for you, Soul Reaper." Ichigo let Yang down, and they both took defensive positions in front of Yuzu.

"Karin!" he shouted again.

"Ichigo," Karin said weakly before passing out. Saido and Rukia finally caught up to them, and appeared behind Ichigo. Rukia positioned herself between Yuzu, and Yang and Ichigo.

"Whoa, now that's an ugly one," Saido said.

"Huh?" Yang asked. "Who's this guy?"

"No one important," Ichigo said, much to Saido's annoyance. The sound of the Hollow chuckling brought their attention back to the monster, and Ichigo noticed a very familiar girl standing in front of her. She had a black bowl cut, and was wearing a white robe. "It's not possible," he said. The Hollow just continued to laugh. "It's her. It's the girl I saw that day six years ago, the one down by the river."

"Six years ago?" Rukia asked, causing Yuzu to look at her in confusion, due to not being able to see who she was talking to. "Ichigo, do you mean—"

"That's right. She's the one. I tried to stop her from jumping into the river, but when I finally came to, she disappeared. And my mother—she was dead."

"So that means this girl had something to do with it?" Yang asked.

"Six years ago?" the girl spoke with the Hollow's voice. "That's a long time. And there have been so many. You can't expect me to remember every one of the souls I've eaten. How can you?" The girl's skin peeled back, revealing the lure underneath it, which took its place above the Hollow's head, as the Hollow continued laughing.

"It's Grand Fisher," Rukia said. "That's the code name we've given him."

"Seems a little on the nose," Yang commented.

"He keeps himself invisible and disguises the lure growing out of his head as a human. Anyone who sees the lure he knows has high spirit energy and immediately attacks and devours them. For over 50 years, this Hollow has evaded every Soul Reaper that's gone after him. And we know that his favorite victims are women." That sent a chill down Yang's spine.

_Great,_ she thought. _So he's a creep, too._

"So does that mean my mother was actually killed by…" Ichigo started to ask, but Rukia's nod told him everything he needed to know. He glared at the Hollow, pure rage in his eyes.

"Impressive," Grand Fisher said. "You have been lucky, little boy. You saw my lure, and yet you lived. Perhaps it was my intention to eat you on the spot for your spirit energy, but there's something about the women. They're just too sweet and lovely for me to pass up." He started laughing maniacally after that, and Ichigo began trembling with rage.

"Bastard," Rukia spat.

"That's the most disgusting Hollow I've seen in a long time," said Saido.

"50 years is a long time to run away," Yang said, her eyes turning red. "That ends today!" Before she had a chance to act, though, Ichigo gripped his sword with both hands and charged at the Hollow.

"Karin!" he screamed again, jumping in the air with his sword raised. The Hollow jumped backwards as he brought his sword down, kicking up debris as it dug into the concrete. The Hollow brought his hand down, attempting to crush him, but he jumped out of the way and landed on a nearby ledge.

"Don't be so reckless, you idiot!" Rukia yelled, running towards him. Yang, however, completely ignoring her advice to the orange-haired teen, charged past her, her fist cocked back. She went for a body blow, but was surprised when the green fur absorbed her attack and sucked up her arm. Another part of his fur quickly lashed out and hit her in the face, stunning her. He then threw her at Ichigo before jumping up into the air. His fur spread out all around him and wrapped itself completely around the two teenagers. He pulled the rest of body towards them, so it appeared as though they were being absorbed into his body.

"Yang! Ichigo!" Rukia yelled in concern.

"Oh, this is so gross!" Yang complained.

"I knew this thing was ugly," Ichigo said, "But he smells, too!"

Rukia stretched out two fingers in front of her, and the fingertips began glowing red, and she traced a character in the air.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!" she chanted. "Look upon yourself with horror, and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo number 9! Geki!" Grand Fisher's whole body began to glow with a red light, freezing him in place, and making him groan in pain.

"How dare you interfere?" he demanded of Rukia. A piece of his fur formed into the shape of a whip, and he smacked Rukia in the head with it, sending her sailing into a headstone behind her. She sat slumped against the headstone, a trickle of blood falling down her left eye. The Hollow laughed again. "Now just sit there and watch as I devour this little girl."

"Wait!" Ichigo pleaded, while Yang struggled as hard as she could. Grand Fisher chuckled and lifted Karin towards his waiting mouth.

"Tasty," he commented.

"No, don't!"

"If you feel so strongly about it, maybe I should eat you or the woman first." Before he had the chance to do anything to them, Saido finally decided to join in on the action. He jumped up and in a quick, fluid motion, he sliced off the arm holding Karin. The Hollow gripped Saido's leg in his mouth and threw him away, as Karin landed back near the gravestones, still unconscious. Ichigo used the dristraction caused by the Hollow's severed hand to slice himself and Yang free of the green fur, the two teenagers jumping away, Ichigo landing several feet away from the Hollow, and Yang landing back down near the gravestones. After she landed, Yang felt her left leg buckle underneath her.

_Damn it,_ she thought. _I must have twisted my ankle. It really sucks not having Aura right now_.

They spared a glance at Karin's prone form, and saw that Yuzu was shaking her shoulder, trying to wake her up. The poor girl still had no idea what was going on. The Hollow followed their gaze and cackled again. Several clumps of his fur took on the shape of spears and launched themselves at the twins.

"Karin! Yuzu!" Ichigo yelled. The fur skewers were fast approaching the girls, when Saido jumped in front of them, his sword raised. The skewers split on contact with the man's zanpakuto, doubling their amount, which soon found themselves embedded in the Soul Reaper's body. Four of them impaled him in the leg, and another three embedded themselves in the man's chest. Ichigo, Yang, and Rukia were shocked at the man's act of sacrifice. Ichigo managed to snap out of it quickly, though, running up and cutting the fur away from Saido. The older man dug his sword in the ground to hold himself up, panting heavily as blood poured out from his wounds.

"Why?" Ichigo asked him. "You sacrificed yourself."

"I'm a Soul Reaper, kid," Saido said with difficulty. "We fight Hollows. We kill them without mercy, no matter what." He paused to cough up a large amount of blood. "When a Hollow attacks at random and kills someone, that person's loved ones are the real victims." His knees buckled. "They're left with nothing but an emptiness. As a Soul Reaper, I couldn't let that happen. We must always protect the innocent. Do you understand, Spiky?" He finally collapsed, his eyes closing as he lost consciousness.

"Hey, get up!" Ichigo called. "Do you hear me? Get up!" Rukia walked up to Saido to check on him, while Yang looked on with concern. "He can't die, can he? He's a Soul Reaper."

"Ichigo, even Soul Reapers are not immortal," Rukia said. "A severe enough injury can still kill them." The trio heard a snoring sound coming from the fallen Soul Reaper, and stared at him with a mixture of disappointment and anger.

"Wait a minute," Ichigo said angrily. "He's only sleeping."

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Yang asked.

"Tell him to get up," Ichigo said to Rukia. "Or I'll kill him!"

"Rukia!" Kon called, having finally caught up to them, holding his stuffed lion body tucked under his arm. He spotted the bloodied from of Saido lying on the ground. "Whoa, this guy looks like he's leaking."

"Ichigo?" Yuzu asked as she saw Kon in her brother's body.

"Where the hell have you been?" Yang demanded.

"Nevermind that," Rukia said. "Kon, take Ichigo's sisters and run."

"Run where?"

"Just go!"

"Alright!" He yelled, picking up Karin under one arm and grabbing Yuzu by the hand. "Come on!"

* * *

"Yang's hurt," Rukia said to Ichigo. It had started to rain suddenly, a fitting change all things considered. "So I'll go and you back me up." Ichigo completely ignored her again and jumped back up to where the Hollow was. "Wait!" she yelled to him.

"No way," he said to her. "This is my fight!"

"What did you say?"

"I have to do this for my mother. You and Yang need to stay out of this!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Yang called.

"This Hollow's been getting the best of Soul Reapers for 50 years! He's way too strong for you to take on!" Rukia yelled.

"That's enough!" shouted Ichigo. "Now please, don't interfere or try to help me. This fight is all mine!" Grand Fisher roared at Ichigo's challenge. The teen let out a battle cry of his own and charged to meet him.

* * *

Kon had managed to bring Ichigo's sisters to their father at the main building for the cemetery. Kon was sitting on the front steps, and Isshin was leaning against a support pillar to his right. The stress had been two much for Yuzu, and she passed out shortly after they arrived, and she along with her sister were still asleep, leaning against a wall to Kon's left. He heard one of them start to shuffle, and looked to see that it was Karin.

"Oh, hey, Karin," he whispered. "Are you OK?" She didn't respond, so Kon assumed that she was just readjusting herself in her sleep. He looked at her for a few seconds before grabbing at his eyebrows in pain.

_Oh man!_ He thought. _I'm trying to act like Ichigo, but staying all serious and scowling every minute of the day is impossible! How can anyone look so mad all the time?_

* * *

Ichigo roared as he charged at the Hollow. He had chased it into the woods, running uphill after it. Surprisingly enough, Rukia and Yang did not in fact follow him, but he wasn't much paying attention to that. His focus was squarely on his enemy. He was running through the trees, dodging fur skewers fired at him by Grand Fisher from a distance. He kicked off of a tree to launch himself at the monster, and swung his sword, aiming for its face. To his shock, the Hollow suddenly disappeared from view and reappeared behind him.

"You're too slow, human" Grand Fisher taunted. Ichigo just barely managed to avoid several skewers by jumping forward, as they impacted the ground where he was standing. He performed multiple long jumps in a row to continue dodging the Hollow's attacks, until he ended up in a clearing, where Grand Fisher appeared several feet in front of him.

"That was pretty brave of you, young Soul Reaper," he said, "telling your friends you didn't need their help to fight me. Pretty brave and pretty stupid."

"Shut up," Ichigo spat at the monster, staring him down.

_I don't really know how long Yuzu grieved after our mother died,_ he thought. _And I can only imagine how lonely Karin must have felt without her. _Saido's words came back to him.

_"We must always protect the innocent."_ He gripped his sword firmly with both hands.

"I've also made it my duty to protect the innocent." He didn't notice Rukia running up towards him, Yang leaning on her for support. "That means it's my duty to destroy you!" He charged again at the chuckling Hollow. He swung at its face, only for the creature to disappear again and reappear behind him.

"I guess you didn't listen when your friend told you not to be so reckless," the Hollow said. Ichigo was barely able to get his sword up in time to block a swipe from the Hollow's hand, which had grown claws on the tips of the fingers. They were dangerously close to his face, forcing Ichigo to push back against them to avoid losing an eye or worse. "You've been lucky so far. How many times do you think you can get away with jumping into the lion's den without any strategy?" Rukia and Yang had finally caught up, and gasped in shock at seeing Ichigo backed into a corner like this. "Well, today's the day your luck finally ran out, maggot!" Grand Fisher tightened his grip on Ichigo's sword, when his fingernails suddenly extended. Ichigo suddenly found himself impaled by the Hollow's long, sharp nails, one in each shoulder, and one in the center of his chest.

"Ichigo!" The girls shouted simultaneously. The Hollow removed his claws from the teen's body, causing his knees to buckle. He stuck his sword in the ground and leaned on it for support, gasping for breath. Blood continued to drip out of his open wounds.

"That'll teach you to be so reckless, amateur Soul Reaper," Grand Fisher said, holding his bloodied claws in front of him for all to see. "Rejecting your comrades' offer of help will prove to be your final mistake. And now you'll endure the shame of dying without even having wounded the great Grand Fisher." Before Ichigo's very eyes, the arm that Saido had cut off grew back, returning the Hollow to his full strength. Rukia put Yang down, as her leg was still injured, and ran towards Ichigo to help, calling his name.

"Stay back!" Ichigo barked at her, causing her to stop in surprise. "I'll do this myself, whatever it takes. No matter what it costs me, even if I die, I'm going to finish this."

"Then die you will, because you allow your passion and your rage to distract you from your purpose. And that distraction dulls your sword. You flail wildly, but your physical skills alone are not enough to defeat me. And now, I shall show you why your mind is not strong enough to fight me, either." The lure appeared in front of him, and the Hollow wrapped his hand around it. When he removed his hand, Ichigo was stunned by what he saw. The lure had taken the shape of a woman, with long, dirty blonde hair. She had brown eyes, and a kind smile on her face. It was his mother.

"Is that your mother?" Rukia asked.

"How the hell did he do that?" Yang asked.

"Bastard!" spat Ichigo.

"Even the most cold-blooded Soul Reaper has one person whom he can never kill," explained Grand Fisher. "That is a fact which you cannot deny. My lure is able to read the souls of my enemies, and take on the form of that one person. By doing that, I've been able to avoid every Soul Reaper that has come before you for over 50 years. And I can see that for you, this is that one person."

"So that's why I saw Ruby earlier," Yang said, slightly disappointed that it was simply an illusion and not in fact her beloved sister.

"Do you remember me, Ichigo?" the lure asked in his mother's voice. Ichigo looked like he was in absolute shock.

"Ichigo," Rukia said, as if she was going to act in some way, but instead she started trembling. "I understand. I won't help you. But please, Ichigo. Don't sacrifice yourself."

"What are you doing?" Yang asked. "Help him."

"I can't," Rukia said, and Yang started to see tears emerging from her eyes, even through the rain. "This is a battle he has to fight by himself. This is a battle for his honor."

"What do you mean?"

"I can help him now, but his honor would be destroyed forever. I can't help him if it means breaking him. I won't do it!"

"Rukia…"

* * *

Saido had finally started to stir, and began to push himself up off the ground.

"Oh damn," he said. "I fell asleep again. Oh well." He picked up his sword and ran in the direction he sensed the Hollow.

* * *

"Well, Soul Reaper," Grand Fisher taunted. 'Can you draw your sword against your own mother?"

"You bastard!" Ichigo growled. "How dare you defile her memory by bringing her into this?! You disgusting freak! You make me sick! I'll cut your heart out!" He charged at the Hollow again, but was brought to a halt when the lure disguised as his mother appeared in front of him.

"Ichigo, you mustn't do this," the lure said. "You mustn't hurt your mother." The lure steadily approached him, forcing him to take a step back. "Please, son, you must put your sword down. Do it for me." Ichigo hesitated, allowing Grand Fisher to form a very large spear out of his fur and impale him in the right shoulder, his sword arm. The tip of his sword fell to the ground, as he no longer had the strength to hold it up. The girls watched in horror, and didn't notice Saido catch up with them. Ichigo glared at the Hollow, wincing in pain.

"Didn't I tell you?" the Hollow asked. "Your rage only serves to dull your blade. It makes you vulnerable. And now with my next blow, I'll finish you off!" He held up his hand, and his fingernails extended into long claws again. "Now, before you die, I want to tell you that after having faced so many Soul Reapers, you were the most foolish and by far the weakest of them all!" He thrust his claws towards the teen, intending to impale him one final time.

"Ichigo!" Yang screamed in horror. Surprisingly enough, the Hollow decided to stop his attack, and stared in her direction.

"Well now," the creature said. "It seems she cares for you. You were so weak, that I'm left feeling very unsatisfied. I told the girl earlier that she would be my appetizer, so I've decided that you get to die with the knowledge that you weren't strong enough to save her!" He removed the fur spear from Ichigo's shoulder, and the teen fell to his knees. Grand Fisher charged at Yang, knocking Rukia out of the way with ease. He raised his claws again to strike Yang with them, but they were suddenly blocked by Ichigo, who looked at the monster with pure rage in his eyes.

"No!" he screamed. "You already took my mother from me! I won't lose anyone else important to me, you monster!"

"Ichigo…" Yang said.

"You said that anger dulls my blade. But against scum like you, even a dull blade is more than enough to finish you!" He swung his sword hard to the side, throwing the Hollow's claws out of the way, and brought his sword down hard on Grand Fisher's mask, slicing it clean in half. Grand Fisher screamed in agony, and the four people present watched as his body dissolved into black particles. Grand Fisher's 50-year reign of terror was finally over, ended by a human teenager. "That was for my mother, you son of a bitch."

"Incredible," Rukia said under breath.

"Ichigo, you did it," Yang said. As soon as she finished, his legs finally gave out, and he fell backwards, landing in the blonde's arms.

* * *

Yang was sitting on her legs, allowing the unconscious Ichigo to rest his head in her lap. She was smiling down at his unconscious form, absentmindedly running a hand through his orange hair. Her eyes showed pure relief that he was still alive, and gratitude that he had saved her. She couldn't help but blush at the thought of what he said to the Hollow.

_So, I'm somebody you don't want to lose, huh?_ She thought. _That makes me really happy_.

"Your friend is something else," Saido said to Rukia, who was watching the two teens with a smile.

"Yes, he is," she answered. "He did a fantastic job today."

"As you know, a Soul Reaper's power is determined by his life force. This kid's potential is a little frightening." He began to walk away. "Well, time for me to head home. I can see I'm just getting in the way. But it looks like you've got some steep competition in your way to his heart."

"Give it a rest, will you?"

"Ok, have it your way. But you know the Soul Society's going to find out eventually. Bye Rukia. Good luck with everything. Say 'goodbye' to the kid for me."

* * *

Everything had calmed down, and the rain had stopped. Rukia had used her healing kido to heal Ichigo's injuries and Yang's leg. The boy himself was finally back in his body, and was standing over his mother's grave, the only source of light at this time of night coming from the nearby street lamps. Rukia and Yang were nearby, but were keeping their distance, to give him some time alone with his thoughts.

"I did it, Mom," Ichigo said. "I finally did it."

"I'm sure whatever 'it' is, she'd be proud of you," his father said. Ichigo hadn't even heard him approach.

"Dad, those were private thoughts. You shouldn't eavesdrop." He watched as his father reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "Hey, I thought you quit smoking." His father took a long drag before answering.

"Your mom told me once, back when we'd only been dating for a little while, she thought I looked cool holding a cigarette. Now that I think about it, that might have been the first compliment she ever gave me. It might have been the last one, too. That's why I always smoke just one when I come here, on this one day of the year."

"How can you smile at anything here?" Ichigo started to tremble. "Why doesn't anyone blame me for causing Mom's death? It would be so much easier to understand if you all blamed me. I can't take it! I can't!"

"Why should we blame you, Ichigo?" His words shocked the orange-haired teen. "If I were ever to blame you for causing your mother's death, she'd never forgive me. It's no one's fault that she died. Sometimes in life, bad things just happen, and she knew that. She was the woman I loved, a woman with so much love in her heart, she would do anything to protect her family. And remember this. That woman, whom I loved so much, was willing to give up her own life to protect yours."

"Wow, Dad." Isshin started to walk past him, only to quickly turn around and knee him in the back, making Ichigo double over in pain. "What was that for?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Can't have you going soft on me, boy." He continued walking away from his son. "Be strong, Ichigo. Live well, grow old well, grow bald well, and then die long after I've died. And if possible, die with a smile on your face. Otherwise, I'll never be able to face Masaki. Try to shake off that gloom and depression, son. You're way too young to carry around such a heavy burden. I'll be waiting at the bottom of the hill." His father disappeared from view, and Ichigo heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Yang approaching him, a sheepish look on her face.

He had been dreading this moment since the day before. He knew he would have to answer for the way he had treated her. A few hours ago, the thought of facing the blonde scared him. But not anymore. He knew exactly what he had to say.

"Yang, I'm sorr—" before he could finish his sentence, the girl had wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Yang?"

"You idiot," she said softly. "Don't ever scare me like that again." He stood awkwardly for a few seconds before returning the hug.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for worrying you, and I'm sorry for how I was acting. I was a mess of emotions, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." She shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I'm just happy you're OK. And I shouldn't have tried to force you to tell me what was wrong. It really wasn't my business. It's just, you've done so much for us since we got here, Ichigo. More than I think you realize."

"What do you mean?"

"You opened up your home to us, you gave us a place to belong, you made us feel welcomed in this new world we know nothing about. You've done so much for us, so I thought it was only fair that I try to help you when something was wrong. And it really hurt when you wouldn't let me."

"Yang…"

"So just promise me, that from now on, you won't try to handle these problems by yourself. You have friends. You've got Rukia, Orihime, Chad, Blake, Pyrrha… me. We'll always be there for you, just like we know you'll always be there for us. So just promise me that you'll let us."

"OK, you win. I promise." They stood there embracing for a few more moments before Ichigo and looked at Rukia and slowly broke the hug. "Hey, Rukia. I want you to let me be a Soul Reaper for a little while longer."

"Ichigo?" Yang questioned.

"I want to become strong so I can continue to protect the innocent from the Hollows. The Hollows took my mother from me, and I want to become strong enough so that never happens to anyone else ever again."

Yang and Rukia could only look at him with pride.

**AN: So now we have our first major deviation from canon: Ichigo actually kills Grand Fisher. I always thought it was a huge cop-out that after building up Grand Fisher as the Hollow that killed Ichigo's mother, he just chickens out and runs as soon as he gets injured and Ichigo never gets to kill him. So I changed it.**

**I also omitted the scene when the spirit of Ichigo's mother spoke to him through Grand Fisher's lure. I always thought that scene was stupid to be honest. It was very poorly written in my opinion, and didn't make much sense to me. So now, his second wind comes from a desire to protect Yang, instead of a confidence boost from his mother's final thoughts. It also serves to help build Ichigo and Yang's relationship. I hope you guys like the changes I made.**

**So, next chapter will be the RWBY-focused one. Just to re-iterate, it will not be a comedic chapter. I'm not clever enough for it. I just really hope that I didn't get people's hopes up. We'll just have to see how it turns out.**

**As always, thanks you guys so much for reading my fanfiction! It means a lot to me. I'll see all of you next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry about the delay here. I ran into a bout of writer's block. With that said, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.**

Chapter 11: A Night Out

"I'm just saying, we've been here for so long already and we've never once gone out to hit the town," Yang said. She was walking to class with Ichigo, Blake, and Pyrrha. Rukia had left before them like usual. "So I say tonight, we go out!"

"Sounds fun!" Pyrrha said happily, but Ichigo and Blake just looked at her skeptically.

"What's with that look?" Yang asked. "Come on, let your hair down and live a little!"

"I can't," Ichigo said. "My family wants me for something tonight."

"Do I have to?" Blake asked.

"Do it or I'll tell the whole class about your smut," Yang threatened, grinning devilishly.

"A night out? That sounds like a great idea!" Blake said quickly, panic evident in her voice.

"Thought so."

"You better keep that crap away from my sisters," Ichigo said to her sternly.

"It's not smut!" Blake said indignantly. "And even if it were, I keep it hidden so their eyes are safe." They had reached the door to the classroom, and the sight they were greeted with made them all pause in total confusion.

There in the doorway stood Orihime. She had he arms crossed in front of her chest, looking like she was trying to reach for her opposite shoulders.

"Bwahahahaha!" She laughed in an exaggerated manner.

"Huh?" they all said simultaneously.

"Aw, you guys barely reacted," she whined.

"I think Orihime's finally lost it," Yang observed.

"The poor thing, and so young, too," Blake said sympathetically, while Pyrrha simply nodded sadly.

"Don't you guys know where it's from?" Orihime asked the group.

"Uh, Spirit Hunter?" Ichigo guessed. Orihime smiled brightly at him, clapping her hands together.

"Yeah, isn't that show just the best? Come on then, Ichigo! Join in with me!" She moved her arms to cross them and start laughing again, but Tatsuki appeared behind her, grabbed her arms, and lifted them straight up.

"Bonzai!" the black-haired girl shouted to stop the strawberry-blonde.

"Oh hey, Tatsuki. What's the matter?" Orihime asked innocently.

"Let's go already. You can 'Bwahaha' with me. Now move!" Ichigo and his roommates were just stunned.

"Yo, guys," Keigo's voice rang out behind them. "Keigo here!"

"And Mizuiro!" Chad was there, too, but he just grunted. All three of them struck the same pose that Orihime did earlier. Keigo and Mizuiro started the same exaggerated laugh that she did, but Chad remained silent.

"Oh God, it's spreading!" Yang shouted in horror.

* * *

"So, what's Spirit Hunter?" Yang asked once everything calmed down. They were standing near the window to get away from everyone 'Bwahaha'-ing each other.

"It's this popular show about some goofy hack named Don Kanonji who hunts ghosts. I never cared for it, but my dad and Yuzu love it."

"Oh, we had some of those ghost hunter shows back home," Yang said. "Ruby and I would watch them sometimes."

"They were all bogus, though," Blake said. "I mean, everyone knows ghosts aren't real." Everyone looked at her kinda funny.

"Blake, I think you're forgetting that _we're _ghosts," Pyrrha said, causing the black-haired Faunus to blush in embarrassment.

"I actually _did _forget that for a second," she said sheepishly.

"Hey, guys," Keigo said after approaching them. "So are you going to the 'Spirit Hunter' broadcast?"

"No," Ichigo answered instantly.

"We had other plans," Yang elaborated.

"What?! It's the best TV show in Japan. And it's going to be broadcasting live from Karakura. You live in this town, guys. You'd have to be dead to miss it."

"Guess that makes us zombies," Ichigo said, fully aware of just how true that was of the three girls next to him. "Get lost."

"But I already went to the trouble of asking Rukia to go," Keigo said, gesturing towards the girl in question.

"Hi, everyone," she said cutely, and curtsied.

"Come on, Rukia," Keigo said, striking the odd pose from before. "Bwahahaha." She shook her head sheepishly.

"No. I'd be too embarrassed to do it."

"Well I see her acting's gotten better," Ichigo muttered under his breath.

* * *

Ichigo was greeted at his home by the absolute last thing he ever wanted to see.

"Bwahahahahaha!" his dad and Yuzu laughed at him, performing the same stupid pose as everyone else, while Karin looked like she was wondering what she did to deserve getting stuck with the weirdest family in the world.

_Oh, no_, he thought. _Well, I can take a guess why they wanted me to be here tonight. Why me?_

"Ichigo, you're coming with us to the 'Spirit Hunter' taping, right?" Yuzu asked her brother.

"Why the hell should I?"

"Aw, please?" Yuzu asked pleadingly. "I really want us all to go as a family."

"I'd really rather not. Can't you just take Karin?"

"Oh no you don't!" Karin yelled at him. "They're already forcing me to go to that stupid show! You're not getting out of it, too!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Ichigo," his father said finally. "As your father, I am hereby ordering you to go with us to the taping of 'Spirit Hunter' tonight!"

"Fine," he grumbled, and as soon as he relented, his father and sister struck that stupid pose and started laughing again.

_This is it,_ he thought. _This is what Hell looks like._

* * *

"I can't believe you're going to willingly subject yourself to that torment," Blake said to Ichigo, her voice full of pity for the poor boy. They were in his bedroom, and the girls had changed out of their uniforms.

"Honestly," he said, "it wouldn't have taken much to convince me to go."

"Really?" Pyrrha asked. "This really doesn't seem like the kind of thing you would have any interest in attending."

"Trust me, I don't. I would just really hate to disappoint Yuzu. She really loves that show, and I know she'll be really happy to share it with me, so I figure I can bite the bullet this one time."

"You're a really great older brother, you know that?" Yang complimented him, causing him to blush faintly at the praise.

"Anyway," he coughed. "Can I convince you guys to go? It would be nice to have some friends there that haven't completely lost their minds."

"Nope," Yang responded, putting emphasis on the "p". "I was serious about us going out tonight. You'll just have to suffer without us."

"I'll be going with Ichigo," Rukia said, surprising everyone. "What? I already told Keigo I would go, and I need to keep up appearances."

"You poor thing," Blake said pityingly.

"I don't know," Rukia said. "I think it might be kind of fun." Everyone looked at her in absolute horror.

"Oh, no," Yang said. "We lost Rukia! Quick! Let's go before we catch the stupid!" The girls ran towards the window and prepared to jump out of it. "And Ichigo, if you come back 'Bwahaha'-ing, don't worry. We'll put you out of your misery."

"I'm not gonna lie, I think that would be best," he said as the girls jumped out the window and ran away from his house as fast as their legs could carry them.

* * *

Yang absolutely loved the feel of a city at night. The lights, the sounds of people partying, the feel of enjoying yourself with reckless abandon. Truly, it was exploring a city at night when she felt truly alive. Or rather, it would be, if the two girls she was with were the night owl type, which they clearly weren't. They had stopped running, and had adopted a leisurely stroll, and the other two girls just looked at her expectantly.

"So, what did you have in mind, Yang?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah," Blake agreed. "Pyrrha and I aren't exactly the 'go-out-and-hit-the-town' kind of girls."

"Well," Yang said, "When I went out back home, I would usually just dance in the seediest bar I could find until someone tried to flirt with me. Then I'd just beat them up." She noticed the looks of scrutiny the other girls were shooting her. "But, uh, yeah, I don't think that'll work with you two."

"Why am I not surprised that's how you spent your free time?" Blake asked rolling her eyes.

"Hey, at least I go out and have fun. You just read all day."

"Because it's what I enjoy doing, you barbarian," Blake said jokingly.

"Now, now," Pyrrha said. "Why don't we find something a little less… violent to do?"

"Fine, if you want to be boring," Yang relented. "So, any ideas? We don't exactly know all the best hot-spots in this town." The girls turned a corner and spotted a convenience store.

"Why don't we try asking in there?" Pyrrha suggested.

"It's as good a plan as any," Blake said.

* * *

Chad stood in the convenience store, perusing the shelves. He was supposed to meet up with Keigo and Mizuiro at the old hospital, where the filming would take place, and decided to grab a few snacks for the show.

For reasons he couldn't explain, he felt a twinge of disappointment earlier that day when he heard that the new girls weren't going to be there, Blake in particular. There was something about her that just drew him to her, but he couldn't put his finger on what. On top of that, he began to experience weird memories. Memories with her. He could vaguely recall fighting alongside her, and he especially remembered her outfit. In his memories, she had been wearing a really short black yukata that showed off her slender legs, and he blushed at the thought of how cute she looked. But, he had never seen her wear something like that. Nor had they ever fought together. So where were these jumbled memories coming from? He decided to put these thoughts aside for now, and grabbed a few bags of chips before making his way towards the register. Turning around, he didn't notice that someone was standing right behind him. Of course, he bumped into them.

"Sorry," he said automatically.

"Oh no, it's fine," a familiar voice replied. He turned around and saw beautiful long, black hair, and that adorable bow on top. He saw the white jacket that left her stomach exposed. He saw the tight black pants. And he saw her.

"Blake," he said surprised.

"Yasu—uh, Chad," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just getting some stuff to take to the show. Are you going, too?"

"No, I'm stopping in here with my friends." They just kind of stood there awkwardly until her blonde and redhead friends turned the corner and saw them.

"There you are, Blake," Yang said, then noticed the giant next to her. "Oh, hey Chad. Fancy running into you." He grunted in response. Blake explained to her that Chad was looking for some stuff to bring to the show, and the girls explained that they were just going out, but didn't really know what to do. That's when Yang had an idea. "Hey, Chad, you wouldn't be willing to show us around, would you?"

"I'm supposed to meet Keigo and Mizuiro at the filming," he said. He was taken aback when Yang suddenly grabbed hold of his left arm tightly, wrapping her arms around it.

"Yang!" Blake yelled in embarrassment. Chad could only wonder what the blonde was doing.

"Come on, please?" Yang asked. "I'm sure you can make it up to Keigo and Mizuiro later."

"Um," he couldn't really find any words to say in this situation.

"Pyrrha, little help here," Pyrrha giggled and grabbed hold of Chad's other arm, and the two girls started dragging him towards the exit.

"Guys, wait!" Blake yelled, trying to stop them.

"You can thank me later," Yang said to her with a wink. Chad still couldn't think of anything to say, and just looked at the girls with his mouth open. This was not at all how he expected his night to go. "So, Chad, you know any night clubs?"

* * *

As it turned out, he did in fact know of a night club. It was a quaint little place popular with students. As such, it didn't really meet Yang's usual standards, a fact she made known, as they couldn't serve alcohol. As the quartet entered, they were greeted by the flashing lights, loud music, and moving bodies that one would expect from a club. This particular club also served food, and booths lined the walls, with a dance floor in the center of the room that was currently packed with students. The teenagers still piling into this room despite the supposed "best T.V. show in Japan" being filmed in the same town just reaffirmed to Blake that "Spirit Hunter" was probably not that great of a show. Her classmates just had horrible taste.

The four teens found a table to sit down at, and started some friendly conversation. They spent close to a half an hour just shooting the breeze. The entire time, Yang had noticed the obvious tension that existed between Chad and her Faunus friend. She decided that she needed to do something about that.

"Hey Pyrrha, I'm going to get some food. Why don't you come with me?" She asked to her redheaded friend.

"Um, OK," Pyrrha said uncertainly.

"I'll go too," Blake moved to get up, but Yang stopped her.

"No, you sit right here and talk to Chad." The blonde and redhead walked towards the counter to place their food order, but Pyrrha stopped Yang to talk to her. Thanks to her Faunus ears, Blake heard everything they said.

"Why did you stop Blake from following us?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because the sexual tension between those two is driving me insane," Yang responded, causing Blake to immediately blush upon hearing it. "They need to get some alone time."

_Damn it, Yang_, Blake thought.

"Uh, Blake? You OK? Your face is red," Chad said. She coughed nervously to try to dispel her embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah," she said awkwardly. "I'm just not really used to this kind of environment. Yang's always been the party animal."

"Have you known them a long time? Yang, Pyrrha, and Rukia?" he asked, and she couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised at his apparent interest in learning more about her.

"Yeah, we went to the same school before, uh, transferring here. We met Rukia right after we got here." He simply nodded in understanding. A brief awkward silence fell between the two of them. Blake couldn't help but think about the "sexual tension" comment Yang made earlier and began to wonder if there was any merit. Did Chad feel as awkward as she did? She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't think he was handsome, and she definitely admired his strength and desire to protect others. Did he feel the same way? If Yang noticed a tension, then there must be something noticeable from Chad's side. Was it possible that he had an interest in her? She honestly wasn't sure how to feel about that. She would definitely feel happy about it, but there was a hint of uncertainty, too.

She didn't have whole lot of experience with this sort of thing. There was Adam, but looking back, that relationship was obviously as toxic as relationships could possibly get. Sun had clearly seemed interested back on Remnant, but she always got the impression that his feelings were more than a little superficial. She always felt that his attraction to her was more because she was a physically attractive Faunus girl than anything to do with her personality. If Chad was interested in her, it could only be because of who she was as a person, since he had no idea about her Faunus heritage, or even what a Faunus was. If it was true, and he was genuinely interested in her for her, then it had the potential to be exactly what she'd always been looking for. Someone who accepted her fully for who she was, not what she was.

But then her excitement was quickly replaced by anxiety. He might possibly accept her and have an interest in her now, but how would he feel if he ever saw her ears? How would _anyone_ from this world respond to seeing her ears? The Faunus didn't exist in this world. Would he not care about her animal parts? Or would he think she was a freak?

She was overthinking things. The only indication she had that Chad might be interested was the fact that Yang seemed to think that he was. For all she knew, he might not actually feel that way and she was just letting Yang get to her. There was no point in dwelling on these thoughts until she had some real indication of how he felt. She realized that she had spent a long time thinking, and the awkward silence had been allowed to grow to very uncomfortable size. She decided to try and keep a conversation going.

"So, why do people call you 'Chad'?" she asked.

"Ichigo gave me the name," he said. "When I met him I wrote my name down and he misread 'Sado' as 'Chad'. It stuck." This made Blake giggle a little bit.

"Yeah, that sounds like something he would do." Blake struggled to come up with something else to keep the conversation going, when mercifully, Yang and Pyrrha returned with four large plates of chicken wings. Blake hadn't realized how hungry she was until she saw the food.

"So, how was it?" Yang whispered to Blake. "Any passionate confessions while we were gone?"

"No, Yang, we just talked," Blake responded with annoyance, causing Yang to shake her head in disappointment. In no time at all, the four were conversing again while they ate their wings. After they finished all of them, Yang decided they had been sitting around for too long, and dragged Pyrrha out to the dance floor. Immediately the two of them caught the eyes of several of the men in the room, mostly Yang.

Yang's dancing was, in a word, breathtaking. She clearly had a lot of experience, and Blake had no doubt that she could very well have become a world-famous dancer if being a Huntress didn't pan out. Her rhythm was perfect, and her moves were nothing short of enticing. Her figure guaranteed that several men in the room were practically drooling over themselves, and the ones who brought dates now had girls fuming at the gorgeous blonde that stole their boyfriends' attention. She danced for a few minutes before looking back at Blake and Chad, still sitting at their table. She sauntered over to them, her confidence through the roof now that she was back in her element and hogging the spotlight. She was enjoying every second of it.

"Come on, girl," she said to Blake. "I know you know how to dance. You two get up here."

"I don't know how to dance," Chad said.

"Don't worry," the Blonde said. "I'm sure Blakey will be more than happy to teach you." She grabbed both of them by the hands and dragged them up to the dance floor. Blake suddenly found herself wishing that her preferred outfits covered up her stomach. Dancing in front of Chad with her midriff exposed was not something she felt entirely comfortable with. But this was a perfect opportunity to really spend some time with him as she walked him through the paces, and soon the two were moving around the dance floor like practiced partners. She had to admit, Chad was a natural. She was secretly grateful to Yang for pushing them to dance together. She really was having a lot of fun, and he seemed to be, too, if the small, almost imperceptible smile that graced his otherwise stoic features was any indication. And so they danced, and danced on.

* * *

Blake was very surprised at just how much fun she had at the club. They had been there for a few hours, to her surprise. It was pretty late in the night, and Chad had long since missed the "Spirit Hunter" taping, but Yang still had more energy to burn. She was dragging Chad along by the arm again, trying to see if he knew anything else they could do. Blake ended up lagging behind the group a little bit, lost in thought while reminiscing about the club. Of all the guys in the club drooling over Yang, Chad was conspicuously not one of them. Add to that the fact that he seemed to genuinely enjoy dancing with Blake and only Blake, and the raven-haired Faunus thought there might be a genuine possibility that he might be interested in her. Honestly, the thought excited her. Before she could dwell on it further, however, the last thing she ever expected happened.

Someone suddenly grabbed her left arm from behind her and wrenched it behind her back, also pulling her body towards the person who grabbed her. At the same time, something cold and metal was pressed up against her neck. She yelped in surprise, causing the others to turn around to see what the problem was.

"Blake!" Yang yelled. A large group of people walked past Blake's field of view and surrounded the group of teenagers. The one thing stopping her friends from doing anything was the fact that the metal object against her throat was a knife. With Blake held hostage, her friends, Yang especially, fought their impulse to immediately come to her aid. They stood there, as tense as could be, as the group slowly surrounded them.

Blake counted 8 of them, including the one holding her hostage. They carried an assortment of weapons. Two others had knives, two had baseball bats, one had a set of brass knuckles, and two had pipes. In addition, some of them had ropes hanging from their belt loops, and Blake dreaded what these thugs were planning to do with those.

"Let's all stay calm here," the thug restraining her said in a hoarse voice. "Yasutora Sado, right?" he asked, addressing Chad. The giant nodded in response. The thug chuckled.

"Our friends told us about you. They smacked you around a couple weeks ago. It sounded like fun, so we wanted a little piece of the action. What a surprise to find you with these absolute babes," he said, licking his lips right next to Blake's ear, causing her to recoil in disgust, but his grip was firm, preventing her from getting too far. "After we take you out, we're going to have a little fun with these little ladies here." The thugs all chuckled creepily, and Yang and Pyrrha visibly tensed even more, there faces contorting into disgusted snarls. Chad's emotions were as usual unreadable. He took a step forward, and the thugs raised their weapons.

"Hey, jackass!" one of them shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It's fine, guys,' the thug holding Blake said smugly. "This guy's a pussy. He doesn't even fight back." Chad continued to approach, as the other thugs laughed. Chad stopped in front of the thug and stared at him.

"Let her go," Chad sad calmly.

"Oh, yeah?" the thug said. "I'll tell you what: if you kneel down like the bitch you are and let us wail on you, I might consider it." Blake couldn't help but give Chad a reassuring smile. She knew something these thugs didn't. Chad might not fight back to defend himself, but these goons had made the mistake of threatening somebody else. Somebody that he quite possibly really cared about. She felt nothing but pure satisfaction as Chad's fist came flying at insane speeds to punch the thug holding Blake right in the face, forcing him to let go of the raven-haired Faunus. She gave him a word of gratitude before rejoining the other girls. She reached into her pockets and drew her retractable knives. Yang strapped on her brass knuckles, and Pyrrha drew her telescoping staff.

"God damn it!" the thug that previously held Blake hostage yelled. "Get them!"

Blake honed in on two of the thugs, one of the ones with a bat and one with a knife. She turned her knives to their sides so her strikes would connect with the flat of the blades. After all, it wouldn't do to kill them, unsavory motives or not.

She charged at the thug with the bat, dodging a clumsy swing, and hit him in the wrist with the flat of her knife, making him drop his weapon. While he gripped his wrist in pain, she delivered a spinning kick to the side of his head, knocking him out instantly. She may not have an Aura anymore, but clearly her Huntress training was more than enough to deal with a few average humans that had no idea who they were messing with. She looked at the other thug with a smug look on her face, and he became visibly nervous after she made short work of his friend.

His fear made him reckless. In his recklessness, he charged at her, attempting to stab at her with his knife. She ducked underneath his knife, but she didn't expect that he was so unaccustomed to using it that he would stumble. She was barely aware of a tugging sensation above her head, but she paid it no mind as she delivered two quick attacks to the thug's throat. He clutched at his neck, gasping for breath, when she kicked him in the head as well, knocking him out. She looked back to her friends to see that they had taken down their foes just as easily. She was going to congratulate her friends, but then she saw Chad. He was looking at her with wide eyes, and his mouth hanging open. She instantly felt sheer dread, and her hands immediately shot up to the top of her head.

Instead of the familiar fabric of her bow, she felt the velvety fur of her cat ears. Her _exposed_ cat ears. She realized what the tugging feeling she felt earlier was. When the thug stumbled, his knife had gotten snagged on her bow, and pulled if off her head. She looked back at Chad in horror, and did the one thing she knew she was best at.

She ran.

* * *

She felt so ashamed of herself. After thinking she had made so much progress, she still went back to her old ways and ran once she was faced with Chad finding out about her ears. She didn't wait to talk to him, she didn't explain, she didn't see his actual reaction, she just ran. She didn't have a destination in mind, she just wanted to get away. She eventually found her way to a rooftop and just sat on the edge, hugging her knees against her chest. Her cat ears twitched as the breeze brushed up against them, now that they were free.

_Damn it_, she thought. _I'm so pathetic._ She rested her face against her knees. _Of course my damn ears ruined this. Who was I fooling? Of course this world could never accept a Faunus._ She couldn't hold it anymore. Under the light of the moon, she finally gave in and wept. She sat there, wallowing in her self-pity, when she heard the door to the roof opened. She assumed it was her blonde friend.

"Yang, I really don't want to talk about it right now," she said. The person she was talking to didn't answer, and just walked towards her. She didn't turn to look at them, and just kept staring at the city. Suddenly, a pristine white ribbon was dangled in front of her face. She followed the hand holding it, and was surprised to find not her boisterous blonde best friend, but a tall, brown-haired boy.

* * *

Chad opened the door to the roof and saw her sitting on the edge. He picked up the new white ribbon he picked up for her and walked towards her.

"Yang, I really don't want to talk about it right now," she said without looking at him, clearly thinking he was her blonde friend. He continued walking towards her, and dangled the new white ribbon in front of her face. She followed his hand back to his face and looked at him surprised. He could tell from the misty look in her eyes that she had been crying. She took the ribbon from him wordlessly, and gestured her head towards the ledge next to her. He sat down.

"So, I'm guessing that since you keep them covered up, those ears are real?" he asked. She nodded.

"I've had to put up with all kinds of hatred my entire life because of these stupid ears," she said. "Back home, they used all kinds of cruel words to put me down. 'Freak', 'animal', 'monster'. I hoped things would be different when I came here, but it's the same no matter where I go." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "So, you think I'm a freak, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw the look on your face when you saw my ears. You were so shocked. I'm a freak, aren't I?"

"No. I could never think that about you." His words surprised her. "Actually…" He didn't finish his thought, and looked away in embarrassment.

"What?"

"I looked so shocked because of how cute you looked," he said with a huge blush on his face. She looked absolutely gobsmacked. Then she started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"It's just, out of all the names I've been called throughout my life because of these ears, I think this is the first time that 'cute' has ever been one of them." She was able to stop laughing, and looked back at him. On her face was the biggest, brightest, most beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Thank you, Yasu."

"'Yasu'?" he asked, causing her to blush.

"D-Do you not like that nickname?" He chuckled.

"I like it. It feels right, for some reason." She reached up to tie the new white ribbon around her ears, but he stopped her. "You don't need to cover them up for me. I'd rather see you as yourself." She smiled again, and looked up at the sky.

"The moon is so beautiful," she said quietly.

"Yeah," he said. "Beautiful." He wasn't looking at the moon. He was only looking at her.

**AN: God, such a cheesy ending! I'm sorry about that. I honestly feel like this chapter could have been better, but like I said before, I got hit with writer's block. By the time I finally knew what I wanted to do, I just wanted to get it written to avoid taking any more time getting this finished. That's also why this chapter is a little shorter than the others. The encounter with the thugs was also supposed to be a bit more tense before the fight started, but then I realized that common hoodlums are genuinely no threat to these characters.**

**That said, I knew from the start that this chapter was going to be used to develop Chad and Blake's relationship, and I've got to say, I am more in love with this pairing now than ever before. I also decided to throw in a little detail that Yang is a very talented dancer. Also, Blake has a new bow!**

**I mentioned in a previous AN that I was hit with a sudden inspiration for another RWBY Crossover fic. I finally have an idea of the plot for that one, so expect that to start in the coming weeks. I'm not sure I'm ready to announce exactly what it will be, but I will say it will not be a crossover with Bleach, or any other anime for that matter. I'll need to take a brief break to watch the next few episode of Bleach to plan out the next few chapters, and in the meantime, I'll get started on the next story. The next story will be slow to upload at first since I will be focusing most of my attention on this fic. I'm pretty excited about the new one though, and I hope it will be something you guys will really enjoy.**

**As always, thank you guys so much for reading! I'll see you next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hey guys. Sorry it took so long to come out with this chapter. This fic isn't dead, I swear. I started writing another fanfic, which I only intended to write a couple chapters for before coming back to this one, but instead I wrote 7. I'm gonna get a pattern going so I can write both of these.**

**Anyway, on to the fanfiction.**

Chapter 11: A Challenge is Issued

"Outrageous!" The Karakura high gym teacher, Mr. Kagine, yelled at the students gathered in the principal's office, the meeting being attended by the principal himself and the students' homeroom teacher. He was a tall, stocky man, with buzzed hair and a thin mustache. He was wearing a red tank top and sweat pants, and was currently screaming his head off at the gathered students. The students in question? Ichigo Kurosaki, Keigo Asano, Mizuiro Kojima, Rukia Kuchiki, Tatsuki Arisawa, and Orihime Inoue, who were looking at him in varying degrees of shame, confusion, or irritation.

"Don't you see the damage you kids have done?!" He continued to rant at the students. "This ridiculous show was broadcast on national television yesterday. Just look." He hit a button on a remote, turning a TV attached to the back wall on and displaying a recording of the "Spirit Hunter" broadcast from the night before. "Two of our students were there for all the world to see." The recording played out, showing Ichigo attempting to hop over the barricade separating the audience from the film crew, before being dog-piled by security. Rukia then attempted to jump in and help him, before suffering the same fate.

There was a perfectly logical explanation for why they did that, of course. Except only Ichigo and Rukia themselves were aware of just what that explanation was.

When the two of them had arrived at the taping, they were expecting Don Kanonji to be a total hack, but lo and behold, it turned out he genuinely could see spirits. Unfortunately, they also learned that his preferred method of "exorcising" spirits involved forcibly ripping out their Chains of Fate, unknowingly turning the poor souls into Hollows. As soon as they realized what he was doing, Ichigo tried to jump the barricade to stop him, but the security guards got in the way. Rukia put her glove on and tried to turn him into a Soul Reaper, but her actions were misinterpreted by the guards and she was tackled, too. Thanks to security, Don Kanonji was allowed to transform the Soul into a Hollow, but luckily for them, Kisuke (or "Mr. Hat 'n' Clogs" as Ichigo called him) was on the scene, jabbing the teenager in the forehead with his cane to transform him. Ichigo was able to defeat the Hollow before anybody got hurt, but nobody outside of the ones directly involved knew what really happened, which led to the tongue lashing they were all getting.

"Rukia and Ichigo," Mr. Kagine continued. "This is very serious. Never in the history of this school has any student ever dishonored this institution by committing such an act of civil disobedience," he ranted, grabbing Ichigo by the collar and lifting him up slightly.

"Mr. Kagine?" Tatsuki called, stepping forward with her hand raised. The teacher in question stopped yelling at Ichigo and turned to look at her. "Sir, I can understand why you're angry with Ichigo and Rukia for acting like idiots, but why are Orihime and I here when we didn't have anything to do with this?"

"You were there with them the whole time this was going on," Mr. Kagine said.

"That was a coincidence," Tatsuki said matter-of-factly. "We were just walking by and suddenly got dragged into the whole mess."

"Great, thanks a lot," Ichigo said sarcastically, still being held by the collar, while Tatsuki just stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll remember this the next time you need someone to bail you out." Orihime just looked between the two worriedly.

"Anyway," Tatsuki said, "this has been fun, Mr. Kagine, but we're going back to class if you don't mind. Come on, Orihime." She turned to leave, Orihime moving to follow her before stopping to bow to the teacher.

"Goodbye, Mr. Kagine," she said before following Tatsuki.

"Yeah, me too," Keigo said, slowly inching towards the door. "I've got some homework."

"Not so fast, Mr. Asano," Mr. Kagine said, grabbing Keigo by the back of his shirt and pulling him back into the room. "You were there with him, yet you did nothing to stop them, so you're just as guilty as Ichigo."

"I still don't get what the big deal is," Keigo said, annoyed at his escape attempt being foiled. "It was just a stupid TV show."

"You don't get much, do you, mister?" Mr. Kagine yelled, lifting Keigo up so his ear was directly in front of his mouth. Prime yelling distance. "That's the trouble with you kids today, no awareness of the consequences of your actions! It's depressing!"

"I'm so sorry," Rukia said, tears welling up in her eyes, her head lowered in shame. She pulled a handkerchief out of the breast pocket of her shirt to wipe her tears away. "I really did try to stop Ichigo, but he wouldn't listen," she said between sobs. "All he ever thinks about is himself, and he was so obsessed with getting on television." Mr. Kagine dropped Keigo, who landed with a yelp of pain, listening intently to Rukia's obviously fake sob story. "The whole thing's all my fault. Go ahead and punish me."

"Please don't cry, Rukia," Mr. Kagine said, holding his hands out towards her in a gesture that indicated he wanted to comfort her, but knew that he probably shouldn't touch her. "I understand. I'm sure you did everything you could." While he was trying to comfort the "distraught" girl, Ichigo, Keigo and Mizuiro slowly made their way towards the open window. The principal's office was only on the ground level, so all they had to do was step outside, and they were home free. It was lucky that Rukia's acting had gotten better so she could distract him.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Kagine," Rukia said, continuing to play her role expertly. Or he was just really dumb. Either way, it worked, as the boys managed to step onto the windowsill. "So you'll punish Ichigo and let me go?" At the mention of Ichigo, Mr. Kagine turned around and noticed the boys halfway out the window. After staring at each other for a few incredibly awkward seconds, the boys jumped out and booked it.

"Hey!" Mr. Kagine yelled back at them. "You punks come back here right now! You're not gonna get off that easy! I know where you all live!" He turned around again, only to see that Rukia was nowhere to be found, either. "Oh, great, now Rukia's gotten away, too. What do we do?" he asked the principal, whom hadn't said a word the whole time.

"Just do me a favor," the principal said, "when you do find Ichigo, could you get his autograph for me?"

"Has everyone around here lost their minds?!" Mr. Kagine screamed, tears streaming from his eyes like waterfalls.

* * *

"Way to go, Rukia," Keigo praised once the group had gotten back together. They were all in the school's courtyard, walking back to class, and the two girls that had left had been filled in on what happened. "Your awesome performance got us off scott-free with no detention."

"Oh, you guys," Rukia said, putting her and on her face in fake humility. "It was nothing, really."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked, irritated. "She was trying to sell me up the river." After all, she had flat-out asked Mr. Kagine to punish him and not her.

"You gotta admit," Tatsuki said, "that her phony crying covered your getaway. You ought to be thanking her."

"Actually," Rukia said, "I kind of enjoyed putting on the big act and fooling Mr. Kagine, so no thanks necessary. But you have to know I would never sell out a good friend like Ichigo." Ichigo's only response was to simply grunt in annoyance. Suddenly, Rukia's Soul Pager starting beeping from its place in her breast pocket, causing her and Ichigo to pause.

"Oh, Ichigo, can I talk to you for a second in private?" She stepped in front of the group and gave a quick curtsy. "Would you guys excuse us for just a minute?" And at that, the two ran off, leaving the other four behind.

"Well, that's weird," Keigo said.

"I never noticed before," Orihime said a little apprehensively, "but those two seem to like each other, don't they?"

"No, you're imagining things," Keigo said as the group continued walking to class. "Ichigo might like Rukia, but there's no way she'd be interested in him."

"Well, something's suspicious," Mizuiro said. Suddenly, Keigo stopped, as he noticed another group of students talking. He took a closer look, and realized that it was Chad and the other new girls. Keigo took off sprinting towards him, jumping up and attempting to deliver a double flying kick to the back of Chad's head. The impact caused all three girls to leap back in surprise.

"What the hell?!" Yang exclaimed, and Blake made a noise that sounded distinctly like a hiss, as if she was a startled cat. Chad didn't so much as flinch, and Keigo slowly fell to the ground, clutching his feet in pain.

"Damn it!" Keigo exclaimed as he rolled around. "What are you made of?!"

"Hm?" Chad finally turned around and noticed his friend on the ground. "Oh, hey, Keigo," he said simply. "Why did you kick me?"

"Where were you last night?!" Keigo demanded, forgetting the pain in his feet as he stood straight up and pointed angrily at Chad. "We waited all night for you, and you never showed up! What the hell, man?!"

"I was with them," he said, pointing at the three girls next to him. Keigo's jaw practically hit the floor.

"What?!" he yelled. "How did that happen?"

"We just happened to bump into him at a convenience store," Pyrrha said, her trademark smile on her face.

"Yeah," Yang said. "We dragged him out to the club with us. I never would've guessed that he was such a good dancer," she finished with a smirk, lightly jabbing Blake's shoulder with her elbow, causing the girl to blush. "He even got Blakey here a new ribbon." True to her word, Blake now had a pristine new white bow atop her head instead of the usual black.

"How could you?!" Keigo yelled. "You traitor! Ditching us to hang out with…" His brain finally caught up to him and he realized what he was saying. _Chad_ had gone to a freaking _dance club_ with _three_ hot girls. At this realization, he instantly threw himself to the ground, prostrating himself before Chad. "You're my hero! Please, instruct me in your ways!"

"You can start by not screaming," Yang said, her hands covering her ears. "Seriously, there's something about this guy's voice that really pisses me off, but I can't place it," she said a little more quietly. "You got any ideas?" she asked the other two girls.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Pyrrha said.

"I'm sure you're just imagining it," Blake said flatly.

"Keigo!" Mizuiro called. "Come on! Class is starting soon!"

"Oh crap!" Keigo yelled. "We're gonna be late!" He sprinted off into the building, leaving a thick cloud of dust behind. Yang glared at the door he went through, swiping her hand in front of her face to keep from breathing in the dust. She, Pyrrha, and Chad started moving towards the building, as well, but Blake stopped Chad. Yang looked back at them with a smirk on her face before leaving for class.

"Yasu," Blake said, a heavy blush on her face. "I was thinking, um, I haven't really gotten the chance to thank you yet for everything you did last night, so, um…" she started fidgeting in place nervously. "Are you free tomorrow?" she finally blurted. "We could go out after school."

"I'd love to," he said without hesitation. "I have band practice immediately after class, but we could go out to eat after that's over, if that's ok."

"Yeah, that's great," she said. "It's a date, then." She managed to keep her voice calm, but inside her head, she imagined herself doing backflips. The two of them started walking to catch up to their friends, smiles on both their faces.

* * *

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked. "There's no stinking Hollow here." He and Rukia had followed Rukia's Soul Pager to a small alleyway, but sure enough, there was no Hollow to be found anywhere. All there was, was a spirit of some chubby middle-aged man cowering in the corner. He wore a tank top and sweat pants, and large round glasses. Classic basement-dweller. Probably died a virgin, too. Rukia was fidgeting around with her Pager, trying to figure out what happened to the Hollow's signal. "Don't tell me I got all dressed up for nothing. I think your pager needs new batteries. "

"That's really weird," Rukia said. "It was a strong signal, but now there's no trace of it."

"Hey you, spirit guy!" Ichigo called out and walked over to the man cowering in the corner, causing the man to flinch. "You didn't by any chance happen to cut the head off a Hollow recently, did you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by a 'Hollow'," the spirit said timidly, "but I sure did see something scary. This thing was so big. It looked like a huge, slimy black bug. When I saw it, I almost peed my pants!" He dove at Ichigo, arms outstretched and tears streaming down his face. He was stopped by Ichigo firmly panting his foot into said face.

"I don't care about your problems," Ichigo said in irritation. "I want to know what happened to it."

"Let me talk to him," Rukia said, walking up to him. To Ichigo's shock, she roughly grabbed the spirit by the collar of his tank top and pulled his face closer to hers. "Since you can describe the Hollow so clearly, no doubt then you must have also seen who killed it and how."

"Well, not really," the man said, "because I had my eyes closed the whole time. I was so scared!" he puckered up his lips and inched his face closer to Rukia's who took the same evasive maneuver as Ichigo and planted her foot in his face.

"Well, it's Konso time, I suppose," Ichigo said, resting his massive sword on his right shoulder and crouching down so he was eye-level with the spirit.

"Huh?" the man asked, beginning to panic. "What's a Konso? What are you gonna do? No, no, get that sword away from me! No!" Ichigo put his complaints and the man himself to rest with a tap of the hilt to his forehead, flooding the alleyway with a bright light. After a few seconds, a single black butterfly flew upwards past a building, where a tall, dark-haired boy in glasses wearing all white was watching them intently…

* * *

It was time to post the exam test scores. The members of Ichigo's class, with the exception of Rukia, who was nowhere to be found, were all checking out the bulletin board to see how they did. Surprising everyone, next to the number 3 spot was none other than Orihime Inoue.

"Third in the class?" Tatsuki asked, astounded at her friend's score. "Pretty smart for a girl, Orihime." She affectionately pat Orihime's head without looking at her, causing the strawberry-blonde to giggle nervously.

"This sucks," Michiru complained. "Orihime has both brains and boobs. It's just not fair."

"If it makes you feel better, she's a terrible cook," Tatsuki said to her.

"Orihime, you're my best friend," Chizuru said, hugging Orihime and nuzzling her face on hers. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Knock it off," Yang chastised, pulling Chizuru off of Orihime. "Quit bugging her." Orihime and Tastuki sent grateful smiles to Yang.

"So, Yang," Orihime said. "How did you do?"

"Well, let's see," the boisterous blonde said, sauntering up to the bulletin board. After a few seconds of searching, she found her name. "Ah, there it is. Number 15, huh? Not bad. Not bad at all." She was actually quite proud of herself.

"Yang did better than me, too?" Michiru said, distraught. "Does having big boobs give you better brain power or something?"

"What can I say?" Yang boasted. "I got the goods."

"That's very good Yang," Pyrrha complimented. "Congratulations!"

"Aw, thanks Pyr," Yang said, smiling and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly with a small blush on her face. "What about you?" Pyrrha simply pointed near the top of the board. Yang followed her finger, and was astonished by the number her friend's name was next to. "Holy crap! Number 2?!"

"Wow," Blake finally chimed in. "Impressive."

"I try," Pyrrha said in embarrassment. "What was your score, Blake?" The black-haired girl walked up to board and quickly found her name.

"Number 10," she said plainly. "About what I expected."

"Hey," Yang said happily, pulling her two friends in for a group hug. "We did pretty good, huh girls?" Her happy mood was instantly killed by a certain someone opening his mouth.

"Aw, let the girls have their high scores," Keigo said. "At least none of our gang embarrassed us by making it into the top 50, right, Mizuiro?"

"Take another look," his friend said in disappointment, pointing at the board. He was pointing at Ichigo's name, and the number next to it made Keigo's blood run cold.

"What?!" he screamed in horror. "Ichigo is ranked number 23?! You cheater!" he accused with a comically large amount of tears streaming down his face. "There's no way you could have possibly scored that high!"

"Shut up, Keigo," Ichigo said, barely aware of Yang seconding that motion. "I score high on tests because I study for them. You should try it sometime."

"Aha!" Keigo yelled, pointing at Ichigo. "So that's what you were doing all those nights when I was asking you to come hang out! You always said you were too busy, but the truth is you were studying like a total nerd! Oh, no! I'm friends with a nerd!"

"There's nothing wrong with applying yourself," Pyrrha said.

"Maybe not if you're a nerd!" Keigo said petulantly.

"Ugh!" Yang groaned. "Can I punch him, yet?"

"Not yet," Blake said, disinterested. "Give it a couple minutes."

"Maybe you need some thick nerd glasses like these, pal," Keigo said, getting up close to Ichigo's face with thick round glasses on.

"No thanks," Ichigo said, hitting Keigo in the face with his knuckles, breaking the glasses and causing Keigo's nose to start bleeding.

"Aw," Yang whined. "I wanted to do that. Why didn't you stop him, Blake?"

"Because I'm not responsible for Ichigo," she said simply.

"What are you, my babysitter?" Yang asked crossing her arms in front of her.

"Yup," Blake said simply.

"Hey!"

"It is a bit of a surprise to learn you really study," Mizuiro said to Ichigo, ignoring Yang and Blake's argument.

"My hair gets me enough abuse," Ichigo said. "I'm not gonna be an academic loser on top of it."

"Good point," Keigo said, sounding defeated. "Sorry I ragged on you. So how about…If I give you this complimentary nerd headband instead?" He got close to Ichigo's face again, holding a white headband with the word "nerd" written on it.

"I told you, no," Ichigo said, pulling out a pair of scissors and cutting it.

"All right then, have it your way," Keigo said, making a rude gesture towards Ichigo. "But see if I ever ask you to hang out with me again." He ran up to Chad and gave him a few playful jabs in the ribs. "At least you wouldn't go and do something embarrassing like score in the top 50, right Chad, old pal?" Chad's only answer was to grunt and point at the board. They followed his eyes and saw the name "Yasutora Sado" next to the number 11.

"Wow," Blake said excitedly. "Nice job, Yasu." He gave her a thumbs up in response.

Yang whistled and patted Blake on the back. "Wow, he's hunky, handsome, and smart. You really know how to pick 'em, Blakey. You snagged yourself a triple threat. Watch out I don't steal him."

"Not cool!" Blake groaned, blushing profusely.

Both Keigo and even Mizuiro screamed in horror, not nearly as pleased with Chad's score as Yang and Blake were. The two of them ran a little ways down the hallway before stopping, Mizuiro assuming the fetal position. "I'm horrified!" Keigo yelled. "I had no idea I was hanging out with a bunch of geeks and Brainiac's! I'm through with all of you!" The two of them took off in a full sprint down the hallway.

"Oh well," Tatsuki said. "They'll be back."

"God I can't stand him," Yang said.

"I don't know," Pyrrha said. "I don't think he's all _that_ bad."

"That's just because he's like Jaune and Nora rolled into one," Yang chimed back.

"I suppose," Pyrrha said a little sadly at the mention of her old team-mates.

"Seriously, though," Blake said. "Why bother getting so worked-up over test scores?"

"He's just an idiot in every sense of the word," Tatsuki said.

"With how he reacted to the scores we got, I guess it's lucky for him one of us isn't in the number one spot," Ichigo said, looking at the board, "Like Ametatsu Ishida," he said with a little difficulty.

"Who?" Yang asked.

"I've never even heard of him," Ichigo responded.

"That's Uryu," Orihime clarified. "Uryu Ishida."

"You know him?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, of course. He's in our class." Ichigo completely froze up, likely from sheer embarrassment.

"Nice going," Yang deadpanned.

"You'll find that Ichigo has an uncanny knack for forgetting people's faces and the names that go with them," Tatsuki said before grabbing Orihime's arm and dragging her down the hallway. "Come on." Ichigo put his hand up to his chin in thought.

"That's weird," he said.

"What is?" Yang asked.

"Who the hell is Uryu?"

* * *

Rukia was standing in the school's courtyard, holding her Soul Pager, listening to the dial tone. She had some choice words for a certain blond man. The Pager just kept ringing and ringing.

"How come he's not answering?" She asked frustratedly as the tone for the answering machine rang. She put the pager on the ground leaning up against the wall and pointed angrily at it. "Urahara, why don't you ever pick up when I call you in emergencies like this? You call yourself a businessman? Then why do you show up when you're not wanted, and then when I really need you, you don't answer?" She stared at the Soul Pager for a few minutes before sighing in defeat. "I need Urahara to come take a look at this Soul Pager." She kneeled down in front of the device and began poking it with her finger. "I mean how am I supposed to know if this stupid thing is working right or not?" Suddenly, it started beeping, indicating a Hollow was nearby, so she scooped it up and ran off to find Ichigo.

* * *

Sure enough, just as Tatsuki had predicted, it only took Keigo about five minutes to realize that if he didn't want to hang out with "nerds", then he had no other friends and came crawling back, making plans with them like nothing happened. By this point, the only ones left in front of the board were Keigo himself, Ichigo, Mizuiro, and Chad.

"We could go to this new karaoke bar?" he suggested to Ichigo, who wasn't really listening. "There's a hot hostess there."

"Ichigo!" Rukia's voice called from down the hall.

"Huh?" Ichigo turned to look at her, and saw her running towards him.

"Come here, I need you," she said, grabbing his hand as she ran past him and dragging him down the hall with her.

"That Rukia is one aggressive chick," Keigo said.

"Maybe they really are seeing each other," Mizuiro commented.

* * *

"We have a Hollow alert," Rukia said, having stopped dragging Ichigo so he could run next to her properly.

"There had better actually be one this time," he said angrily.

"Just shut up and run." As they ran down the hallway, Ichigo accidently bumped his shoulder into another student. He was fairly tall with dark hair that framed his face and square glasses.

"Sorry," Ichigo called behind him as he ran past the unknown student.

* * *

"Damn it," Ichigo said, clad in his Soul Reaper garb. It was the middle of the night by the time they finally tracked down the source of the Hollow's signal, only for it to abruptly disappear. "Again, you drag me all the way out here, and there's no Hollow," he said to Rukia, who was dragging his motionless body down the street.

"Shut up," she said, dropping his body. "Stop whining and get back in your body." She pulled out her Soul Pager to take another look at it.

"Fine, but would you do something about that stupid Soul Pager?" He asked as he knelt down next to his body.

"These false alarms aren't my fault," she barked back at him as his soul re-merged with his body. "When it goes off, I have to assume a Hollow has appeared, so I report it. What else do you expect me to do?"

"Well get it fixed, because it's obviously busted," he said, back in his body and standing up.

"They don't fix them at television repair shops."

"Bickering, are we?" a new voice asked from behind them. They turned around and saw a tall, teenage boy with dark hair that framed his face and square glasses. He was wearing a long white coat zipped up the front, with a single blue stripe going down the center, long white pants, and white dress shoes. "How unprofessional." They watched him as he walked towards them, stopping a few feet in front of them. "Good evening, Ichigo, Rukia," he said calmly.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked. "And how do you know our names if you don't mind—"

"I don't mind," the boy interrupted. "I also know you can see spirits, Ichigo." Ichigo and Rukia were shocked by that statement.

"How do you know that?" Ichigo asked, suddenly a lot more wary of this mystery boy. He didn't answer, and suddenly looked over his left shoulder, as if he just noticed something.

"Another Hollow has just appeared," he said, not really at either of them. He just kind of said it.

"No way," Rukia said. As if on cue, her Soul Pager started beeping. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at it. "There's a new one here all right. How did he know?"

"All right, which way?" Ichigo asked. The mystery boy turned around and pointed to the right, allowing the two of them to see a bracelet on his right wrist with a cross dangling from it.

"It's over there," he said simply, confusing the other two. "Can you not sense such a simple thing? And you call yourself a Soul Reaper." Ichigo and Rukia could only stare at him in shock, when a brilliant blue light burst forth from the cross around his wrist. The energy extended past his hand and took the shape of a bow made of pure energy. He grabbed the "string" and pulled it back, conjuring an arrow of pure energy at the same time. He took aim down the street and fired, lighting up the entire neighborhood with his energy. Ichigo and Rukia followed the beam with their eyes and saw it pierce the side of the head of a small lizard-like Hollow. The Hollow instantly disintegrated, but it looked different than when Ichigo killed them, as it faded into white particles instead of black. They stared at where the Hollow once was in shock before Rukia took another look at her Pager.

"The signal just vanished," she confirmed. Ichigo scowled at the mystery boy.

"So tell me, who or what are you?" he demanded. The mystery boy dismissed his bow.

"Uryu Ishida," he answered. "I'm a Quincy." He turned around and glared at the two of them. "Soul Reapers are my enemies."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo said in a warning tone.

"Is that too complicated for you?" The now named Uryu said in a condescending way. "I'll tell you again then, slower this time. Ichigo Kurosaki, you are my enemy."

* * *

"Damn, what's the story with that guy?" Ichigo thought out loud as he stalked the halls of his high school the next day. Class had just ended, and he needed to find that guy from the night before. What was his name again? Ah, whatever.

_Who does he think he is, insulting me like that_? Ichigo thought. _I'll mess him up the next time I see him_._ Besides, who uses a bow and arrow anymore?_ He was taken out of his thoughts when he saw a familiar head of red hair.

"Hey, Pyrrha," he greeted.

"Hello Ichigo," she said pleasantly. While he found his otherworldly housemates annoying most times, at least Pyrrha was always nice. He took a look around, looking for Yang and Blake.

"Where are the other two?" he asked.

"I think Yang is at karate with Tatsuki," she said.

"And what about Blake?" His question caused Pyrrha to giggle, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

"She's on a date with Chad."

"Really?" he asked, genuinely surprised. "Good for them, I guess."

"Yes, it's wonderful," Pyrrha said, a certain sparkle in her eyes that was starting to creep Ichigo out.

"Anyway, I need your help finding someone."

"Oh? Who?"

"Some annoying guy from last night with a bow and arrow. Really pissed me off."

"A bow and arrow?" she asked, shuddering at the memory of the weapon used by Cinder Fall. The woman that killed her.

"Yeah. How lame is that? Weird thing, though, he knew that I'm a Soul Reaper and he was able to kill a Hollow."

"That sounds serious," she said. "What was his name?" Her question stopped him dead in his tracks.

"That's a good question," he said, causing Pyrrha to sweatdrop. "Was it Mac? No, I think it was Iki-something." He was gripping his chin at this point, trying really hard to remember the boy's name. "Ikibo? Ikimo? Metasu! No. Ichi—Ichiarmadillo! No, that's not it either. Damn it!"

"Keep trying," Pyrrha said, tapping him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually."

"Do you mean Uryu Ishida?" a familiar voice said from behind them. They turned around to see Orihime standing there.

"Oh, Orihime," Ichigo said.

"Hi, Ichigo. Hi, Pyrrha," Orihime said.

"Hello again," Pyrrha said with a small wave.

"Yeah, that was his name. Uryu Ishida," Ichigo said.

"It's a pretty cool name, huh?" Orihime asked.

"Uh, yeah," Ichigo said in a panic. "I was just saying it because it's such a cool sounding name." Pyrrha facepalmed at that. There was no way Orihime was going to buy that.

"I agree," Orihime said. Then Pyrrha remembered that Orihime was kind of a ditz. How did she get third in the class again? "In fact, I say his name to myself all the time when I'm sitting with him in the home handicrafts club."

"Home handy what?!" Ichigo asked in total disbelief.

"Oh, that sounds fun!" Pyrrha said happily.

"Right?" Orihime agreed. "Come on, I'll show you where it is."

* * *

The door to the home handicrafts club room opened and Ichigo, Orihime, and Pyrrha stuck their heads in to look inside. The room was almost exclusively filled with girls, except for one lone boy sitting in a desk in the middle of the room reading a book.

"See?" Orihime said. "There he is. Right there." Sure enough, the lone boy was the Quincy from the night before.

"That's him all right," Ichigo said, "but I can't believe he's really in the home handicrafts club."

"You can't always judge a book by its cover," Pyrrha said to him.

"But just look at him. He's reading, not doing macramé."

"Yeah?" Orihime said in a way that sounded weirdly challenging. "You wait." At that moment, Michiru walked up to him holding a small pink plush creature with a tear in its arm. "It looks like Michiru's got a job for him."

"Like he's gonna sew it for her?" He asked skeptically.

"Just wait and watch," Orihime said.

With a serious expression on his face, Uryu snatched the plush toy out of Michiru's hands and tossed it into the air. He quickly opened a small sowing kit, threaded a needle, and then caught the plush. In one fluid movement, the needle danced along the tear in the fabric, sowing it closed. He held the repaired plush dramatically before using his teeth to cut the excess string and tossing the plush back to the girl.

"Hey, it's almost as good as new," Michiru said happily. "Thanks so much, Uryu."

"It's all right," he said, sitting down and picking his book back up. "Don't mention it."

"Holy crap," Ichigo said in disbelief at what he just witnessed.

"That was nice of him," Pyrrha said.

"In fact, don't talk to me anymore at all," Uryu continued, causing Michiru to laugh nervously.

"Nevermind," Pyrrha said.

"Uh, I'll see you later then," Michiru told him before walking away awkwardly.

"Why would he do something so nice and then say something so unkind?" Orihime asked.

"Because he's insane, that's why," Ichigo answered before gesturing to Pyrrha that they should leave, and the two of them started to walk away.

"Ichigo, Pyrrha, wait a sec," Orihime said. "Do you have some kind of problem with Uryu?"

"Well, you could say that, but it's nothing we can't handle," Ichigo said.

"'We'?" Pyrrha asked. "I don't even know what the problem is."

"I'll explain on the way," he said to the redhead. "Come on, let's go." They walked away, leaving behind Orihime, who just down at the floor sadly.

* * *

Ichigo and Pyrrha poked their heads around the corner, watching Uryu walk home. He was climbing up a set of brick stairs into a residential district when he stopped at the top.

"Do you intend to follow me all the way home, Ichigo Kurosaki?" He asked. Ichigo sighed and he and Pyrrha walked out from around the corner, Ichigo slinging his school bag over his shoulder.

"Guess we're not as sneaky at we thought," he said.

"Oh, Pyrrha Nikos is here, too?" Uryu asked. "I was wondering which one of you was with him."

"How long have you known we were here?" she asked.

"From the time you two and Orihime saw me in the classroom," he said evenly. "You've been ducking in and out of shadows behind me ever since."

"That long, huh?" Ichigo asked. "Now that's impressive."

"The careless way you let your spirit energy leak out, even a monkey would have noticed it." Ichigo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Amateur stuff."

"What did you say?" Ichigo growled at him.

"You heard me. It's obvious that you lack even the most basic ability to detect those around you with high spirit energy. How else do you explain the fact that you weren't even aware of my existence until today?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ichigo said. "It's just that I've always been really bad at remembering names and faces."

"Plus, you are very quiet in class," Pyrrha chimed in. "Besides, why are being so rude?"

"Is this all just because you're pissed that I've ignored you?" Ichigo asked. "I'll apologize if it'll make you feel better."

"That's not what I meant!" Uryu said angrily. "There's a difference between you and me. When you first started at this school, I sensed your high spirit energy. If you were any good, you would've sensed mine." Ichigo was really starting to get angry at the Quincy, clenching his teeth to avoid openly growling. Even Pyrrha was starting to get mad if the furrowing of her brow was any indication. "I even know the day in mid-May when you became a Soul Reaper." That took the other two teens by surprise. "And I know Rukia Kuchiki's true identity." His energy flared up, and he was surrounded by spectral ribbons. Ichigo and Pyrrha both recognized what they were.

"Spirit ribbons," Ichigo said.

"Just like what you used to find Chad and Blake that one time," Pyrrha chimed in.

"For once, you're right," Uryu said, never losing his smug tone. "Spirit ribbons are the physical manifestation of spirit energy in the atmosphere. And…" He suddenly vanished, reappearing in front of Ichigo with a red ribbon clutched tightly in his hand. The other two didn't even see him move. Just what the hell was this guy capable of?

"What is that?" Ichigo asked, looking at the ribbon in Uryu's hand.

"This is your spirit ribbon," he explained, before ripping a piece off of it. "You didn't know that? Soul Reapers' spirit ribbons are a different color than normal ones." He let the ribbon go, and it dissipated into the air, while the other ones surrounding him vanished from sight. "Why don't we play a little game, Ichigo Kurosaki? Let's have a duel to determine which one of us is stronger, the Quincy or the Soul Reaper. I'll show you just how unnecessary Soul Reapers are in this world."

* * *

"All right, practice duel!" Jinta said excitedly outside of Urahara's shop. "Rock, paper, scissors!" He threw out rock, and Ururu threw out scissors. "Rock wins!" He said happily. "Now this one's for real!" He held his clenched fist in the air, in the standard ready position. "Rock, Paper, Scissors!" He made the mistake of throwing out Rock again, as Ururu threw out paper.

"It looks like you lose," she said with a small smile on her face. Jinta yelled in absolute despair. "I get to choose a chore for you, Jinta, and I choose sweeping up," she said, holding out the broom to him.

"Oh, no, not so fast," he said. "You haven't won yet, Ururu. I said it's not over till you win two out of three."

"Hey, you never said that before," she whined. "No fair." At the moment, Jinta started grinding his knuckles into her temples, causing no small amount of discomfort for the poor girl. "No, Jinta, stop it!" she pleaded, tears in her eyes.

"Aw, quit your complaining, Ururu," he said, continuing to torture her. "The rules are whatever I say they are." Suddenly Jinta was grabbed by the back of his shirt and lifted high into the air by a giant of a man.

"Maybe you'd like to try that technique on my head, Jinta," Tessai said menacingly.

"Ah, put me down!" Jinta yelled, dangling over 3 meters in the air. "I was just trying to teach her Rock, Paper, Scissors!" A foot suddenly planted itself firmly in Tessai backside, the man not so much as flinching. He turned around and saw Rukia holding her foot in pain.

"Oh, hello there, Miss Kuchiki," he said. "I didn't see you walk up. Is there something wrong with your foot?"

"Nevermind," she said, holding back tears. "Urahara here?"

* * *

"Well, if it isn't my favorite customer," Urahara said, smirking behind his fan. "What can I do for you?" His smirk was wiped off his face when Rukia threw her Soul Pager at him, hitting him in the chin with it. He was knocked off balance, and fell onto his back.

"Don't play innocent with me, Urahara," Rukia scolded. "I had to come in person because I've been calling for days with a major problem, and you don't respond."

"Oh, sorry about that," he said, sitting up and rubbing his injured jaw. "We've just been really busy lately, but I was gonna call you today."

"Where are your friends?" Jinta asked. "You know, that weird, orange, spiky-haired dude, or those three dead chicks? I don't see them anywhere? Did they ditch you? Can't really say I blame them."

"Cut her some slack, Jinta," Urahara said.

"It's serious," Rukia said. "I need information."

"About what?"

* * *

"So when is this duel between us supposed to take place?" Ichigo asked to the Quincy in front of him.

"Right now," Uryu said, continuing to stare down the two teenagers in front of him.

"That is the dumbest idea I've heard all day," Ichigo said.

"I agree," Pyrrha said, impressed At Ichigo's self-restraint.

"Why do you say that?" Uryu asked.

"Because it would be a waste of time, and I've got nothing to prove to you," Ichigo responded. "I've never heard of Quincies before, and I don't know what you have against Soul Reapers, but it's got nothing to do with me."

"He's right," Pyrrha said. "You said it yourself, he only became a Soul Reaper in May, but before that, he was just an ordinary human. Whatever the Soul Reapers did to make you mad, Ichigo certainly wasn't involved."

"I'm surprised," Uryu said. "You're afraid to fight."

"Forget trying to goad me into it," Ichigo responded. "Besides, I'd mop the floor with you."

"Ichigo," Pyrrha whispered. "Stop antagonizing him. It's not helping.

"What's four-eyes gonna do?" Ichigo said as he turned around to walk away.

"Oh, now I get it," Uryu said. "You don't have permission." His words made Ichigo stop walking. "I forgot. Your Soul Reaper powers came from Rukia. You're just a Substitute Soul Reaper. That probably means that on your own, you can't so much as lift a finger. You have to have her permission to duel, don't you?"

"That does it," Ichigo growled, turning back around to face him.

* * *

"A Quincy," Kisuke said, placing a cup of tea prepared by Tessai down in front of him. Himself, Tessai, and Rukia were seated on the floor in the back of the store. "I haven't heard that word in a long time."

"It does have kind of an ancient ring to it, doesn't it?" Tessai commented. "If I'm not mistaken, it's been 200 years since I've heard anyone speak of Quincies."

"Well, who are they?" Rukia asked.

"Who _were_ they, you mean," Kisuke said. "The last of the Quincies became extinct centuries ago, but they were once a clan that specialized in killing Hollows. And at one time, there were many of them, scattered throughout the world."

"So what happened?" Rukia asked.

"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning. The clan started out as a group of humans who had powers like Ichigo to sense the presence of Hollows in the world and began to train to fight against them. The whole mission of the Quincies was to defeat Hollows, just as it is for Soul Reapers like yourself, but there was a deep division between the two.

"It was a question of whether to cleanse Hollows or just kill them. Soul Reapers, as you know, seek to purify Hollows with their zanpakuto and thereby allow them to pass over into the Soul Society. But the Quicnies believed the Hollows deserved only destruction and sought to annihilate them.

"When you think about it, it was a natural reaction. Hollows devour human souls. They kill and maim our friends and family. Why should they deserve the peace of the Soul Society? The Quincies couldn't understand showing such mercy, and eventually began to hate the Soul Reapers for it. They were sure the only answer was to kill Hollows. They believed in doing so that they were avenging their fallen comrades.

"But then, it was this same belief that eventually led to their destruction."

* * *

"Alright, if a duel's what you want, then a duel's what you'll get," Ichigo said, zipping open his school bag.

"Ichigo, wait," Pyrrha said. "You don't have to indulge him. He's just taunting you."

"I know that. I just can't wait to knock this jackass down a peg or two." He pulled the stuffed lion containing Kon's pill out of the bag, dropping the bag itself to the ground.

"It's about time, Ichigo!" Kon screeched in that ever so annoying voice of his. Uryu narrowed his eyes at the plush, clearly having never seen such a thing before. "Why'd you leave me in that stupid bag all day? You trying to kill me? I don't care what Rukia says, don't you ever do that to me again!"

"Cough it up," Ichigo said, looming over the lion.

"Wait a sec," Kon said in a panic. "Forget what I said about the bag. You can put me back there—"

His protests were cut off by Ichigo shoving his hand down his throat to reach for the Soul Candy inside. "Aha!" he said, pulling the pill out wand wiping it on his shirt. He swallowed it, and within seconds, he was outside of his body in his Soul Reaper garb, while Kon fell to his knees inside his body.

"Kon, you better get back," Ichigo said, smirking at Uryu. "I'm about to give Mr. Handicrafts some stitches to sew."

"Uh, I'll be over here," Kon said nervously, before scrambling for cover behind a building.

"So, how does your little duel work?" Ichigo asked. "Tell me the rules, and let's get to it." Behind him, Pyrrha sighed at how easily he was baited into fighting. Seriously, it was like he was another Yang. Uryu smirked as he and Ichigo stared each other down.

_This is really to become much more trouble than it's worth, I can already tell_, she thought to herself.

_To be continued…_

**AN: For those of you wondering, the main reason why I decided that Yang really hates Keigo was because he's voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, who also voices Mercury in RWBY. It's why his voice is what makes her so angry.**

**Also, I gotta say, I'm really enjoying writing Blake like a lovestruck schoolgirl. **

**As I said in the Author's Note at the beginning of the chapter, the reason this chapter took so long to write is because I started writing another fanfiction and ended up writing 7 chapters before coming back here. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, it's called "RWBY: Aqua's Mission". It is a Kingdom Hearts/RWBY Fanfiction starring Aqua. It starts directly after Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and ten years before the beginning of RWBY Volume 1. I would love for you guys to check it out if you haven't already.**

**I think I have finally come up with an upload pattern that will allow me to focus on both of these stories without favoring one over the other. I will alternate writing two chapters for each story. So after the next chapter here, I'll write two chapters for the other one, then two for this, and so on.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and give RWBY: Aqua's Mission a read. Thank you guys so much for reading. I'll see you all next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Awaken to True Power

"Before we get started," Uryu said, looking to Pyrrha, who was standing behind Ichigo, "Ms. Nikos, I would advise you to leave. You aren't a Soul Reaper, so I have no quarrel with you. You wouldn't want to get hurt over something that doesn't concern you."

"I can take care of myself," Pyrrha said, pulling her staff out of her breast pocket and pressing the button to extend it. "Besides, you've been insulting my friend all day, and I won't stand for that." Plus, the fact that he apparently used a bow and arrow and his smug sense of superiority reminded Pyrrha of a certain woman.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Uryu said, clearly not happy with her decision to stay.

"If you're done being afraid to fight a girl," Ichigo said tauntingly, "Let's get this started already. What are the rules?" Uryu reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small white capsule that looked like a pill, confusing the other two teens.

"We'll use this to begin," he said. "It'll help."

"What is that?" Ichigo asked.

"It looks like a pill," Pyrrha commented. "What is it? Drugs?"

"What, you need to 'roid up to fight us?" Ichigo asked.

"Please, what do you take me for?" Uryu asked, genuinely insulted. "This is bait to bring in Hollows. If I crush this, Hollows will start gathering here quickly." Ichigo and Pyrrha's eyes opened wide in horror.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo yelled.

"The rules here are quite simple. Whoever kills the most Hollows in 24 hours will be the winner. Simple, isn't it? Even you can understand how that works."

"Are you insane?!" Pyrrha asked.

"If you bring Hollows here, you're going to put a lot of people's lives in danger," Ichigo said. "This is just between us."

"Why are you making such a big deal about this?" Uryu asked. "Believe me, no one is going to get hurt, because I know I will wipe out every Hollow that shows up here."

"You don't know that for sure!" Pyrrha pleaded with him.

"I know my own strength, so I do know that for sure. If you two had more confidence in your abilities, you wouldn't be worried. With someone with above-average spirit energy like yours, Ms. Nikos, I'm sure you two will have no problem."

"I have above-average spirit energy?" Pyrrha asked.

"Why am I not surprised you didn't notice? Not only can you see spirits, but I've sensed that the spirit energies of yourself, Yang Xiao Long, and Blake Belladonna have been steadily increasing since you three transferred to our school." Pyrrha was surprised by that information. Obviously, her ability to see spirits was because she herself was dead, but to learn that she had spirit energy that was getting stronger came as a real shock. "You'll be fine," he said before snapping his fingers to shatter the bait capsule before either of them could react. A few tense seconds passed as Ichigo and Pyrrha tried to comprehend what had just happened, when they saw a black portal open up in the sky above them. A Hollow stuck its head through the portal and roared, before it was cut short by an arrow made of spirit energy. The arrow vaporized the Hollow, and Uryu stood in the same spot as before, holding his bow.

"And that's one for me," he said, before Ichigo grabbed him by the shirt and tackled him to the ground. "Why does your face look so tense, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Change things back right now," he growled at the bespectacled Quincy. "You get those Hollows out of here."

"It's too late for that. Soon, the bait will have the whole town crawling with Hollows. Sorry, but the dye has already been cast."

"You fool!" Pyrrha yelled. "If anybody gets hurt, their blood will be on your hands. What were you thinking?!"

"No one will get hurt as long as you do your jobs," he said. "You should stop wasting time here and get moving. There's people out there that need you." Ichigo finally let go of Uryu's collar, allowing the Quincy to stand up. "I'd say you'd better get moving if you're going to protect the entire town from all those Hollows." He pushed Ichigo off him and stood up, walking past Ichigo and Pyrrha.

"Damn you," Ichigo cursed him.

"I suppose I should remind you," Uryu said. "It's a fact that Hollows have a tendency to attack those with high levels of spirit energy first. I hope that helps." Ichigo gasped when he realized who that meant.

"Karin. Yuzu." He took off running, Kon running after him. Pyrrha, however, continued to glare at the Quincy.

"Aren't you going to go with him?" he asked her. "Time's wasting."

"If anything happens to his family or any of our friends," she threatened, "I will hold you personally responsible." And he really didn't want to know what happens when you mess with people a Huntress cares about.

"Well then I guess you'd better make sure the two of you do a good job so that doesn't happen." She glared at him for a few more seconds, clearly wanting to continue the argument, but instead took off after Ichigo. Uryu looked behind him at their retreating forms.

"Ichigo, you are blind, unaware of the other gifted people around you. Besides your family, you know others with spirit energy that need your help. They're lucky I'll be killing all the Hollows that could harm those close to them. No matter. All this will still make him realize just how weak his power is. At last, he's reached the point of no return." He remembered the face of an old man, with curly hair, a mustache, and wearing a cloak. He growled before summoning his bow. "Soul Reapers are such useless scum."

* * *

Tatsuki was leaning up against the wall of the gym, wearing her white karate gi with a black belt. She had a red towel draped around her neck, and was drinking from a water bottle while she took a break from karate club. Ever since Yang had joined the club, things had gotten a hell of a lot more rowdy. While Tatsuki really enjoyed her company and having a good sparring partner for once, she really just needed to get away from all the noise every now and again. Unfortunately, she had a new problem that was really ruining the peace and quiet that she was attempting to enjoy: The two ghosts making kissy faces at each other.

She had gained the ability to see ghosts a while ago. She didn't remember exactly what happened, but she had brought dinner to Orihime's place. She remembered feeling very uneasy and suddenly experiencing a lot of pain before blacking out. When she came to, someone that looked a lot like Rukia was standing over her. When she talked to Orihime about it, it turned out that she remembered something similar. Ever since that day, Tatsuki had the ability to see ghosts. And these two were really cramping her style.

"Mika, you're the cutest, I mean it," the male ghost said. It was a couple, and seemed to be in their early twenties, and they were floating in the air above Tatsuki. The male ghost's words made the female ghost, "Mika" evidently, giggle.

"Really, Yoshi?" she asked happily.

"I'm serious."

"Oh, stop that, Yoshi. Someone might see us."

"Hey, it's alright. No one's watching us."

"Oh, don't you have a car or somewhere that's more private?" Tatsuki practically gagged at the scene.

"Oh, great," she groaned. "Just what I need to see. Ghosts making out." It was a lot like a car accident. She didn't want to watch, but she just couldn't look away. She was so engrossed in watching the two dead lovers (and boy, didn't _that_ just sound weird to say) that she didn't really hear the voice trying to get her attention.

"Tatsuki," the voice said, the person owning it standing right next to her. "Remn—uh—Earth to Tatsuki." She finally turned to look at the voice and saw a head of long blonde hair staring back at her.

"Oh, hey Yang," Tatsuki said. "What's up?" Yang was wearing the same white karate gi as she was, but with a white belt instead of a black belt. Tatsuki didn't expect the blonde to keep the belt for too much longer with her skills.

"Coach sent me to get you," she said. "He said your break's over." She tried to follow where Tatsuki's eyes were. "What were you staring at?"

"Nothing," she said stepping off the wall. She then noticed that Yang had looked back at her with a suspicious look on her face. "I'm serious. It was nothing. Come on, we have to break our tie." Despite Tatsuki being the best in the karate club for years, Yang had managed to tie with her. Each girl had won five matches, and Tatsuki loved every second of sparring with the blonde.

"Let's do it," Yang said, cracking her knuckles, the thought of a fight making her lose the suspicious look from earlier. They rounded the corner to head back to the gym, when they heard a voice call out to the black-haired girl.

"Tatsuki?" They looked to the source of the voice and saw Orihime standing there nervously.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki said.

"What's up?" Yang asked.

"Tatsuki, can we talk?" Orihime asked. "Right now?" Tatsuki was about to answer, but unfortunately, a ghost chose right that second to get right in her face and start trying to get her attention. It worked, as she found herself too distracted by the ghost to pay attention to what Orihime was saying. Tatsuki had finally had enough of its presence when it started making obscene gestures at her.

"Would you get the hell out of here?" she yelled angrily while shooing the ghost away. Orihime recoiled from her friend and Tatsuki realized how that looked and instantly started apologizing for it. Yang, however, was looking at her in surprise.

"Tatsuki, did you just—?" Her question was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. "Oh, what now?" She groaned in frustration.

"We'll talk later," Tatsuki said. "Come on, let's go see what just happened." The three girls ran off to investigate the noise, but Orihime stopped, feeling something wasn't right. She looked up at the sky, and saw ominous pitch-black lines forming. They were like clouds, but not quite. Whatever they were, they made her really uneasy.

* * *

Karin was playing soccer in a field with her friends. She was about to kick the ball, but stopped just as her foot was about to make contact when she felt a chill run down her spine. She looked up at the sky, and could only feel an overwhelming sense of dread.

* * *

Ichigo and Pyrrha had made it to the main gate of Yuzu and Karin's school to look for Karin. Yuzu was usually home immediately after school so Ichigo didn't feel the need to worry about her. Karin, however, usually stayed behind to hang out with her friends, so he never had any clue where she could be in the afternoon. They had just stepped inside the gate when they saw a portal open up in the sky above the school and a Hollow come out. The Hollow instantly flew towards Ichigo. For his part, the orange-haired teen just stood his ground with his sword raised. When the Hollow reached him, he effortlessly cut it in half.

"That's three," he said out loud, keeping count of how many Hollows he killed as per the rules of his little "duel" with that smug Quincy. He may not have agreed with the duel itself, but since he no longer had any choice except to fight the Hollows, he might as well play along. He heard a roar from his right side and turned around to see another Hollow charging at him, but before he could react to it, Pyrrha intercepted it, smashing it in the face with her staff hard enough to crack its mask. It landed on its back, and Pyrrha stood over it before jamming her staff as hard as she could through the weakened, cracked section of the mask, killing the Hollow and causing it to dissolve into the usual black particles.

After Uryu informed them that Pyrrha had fairly strong spirit energy, she had asked to take on the second Hollow they encountered, and sure enough, she was able to kill them. In fact, it kind of disturbed Ichigo just how effortless it was for her. Granted, he knew about her Huntress training back in her world, so she had experience fighting monsters, but it was another thing entirely to see it happen with such efficiency.

"Make that four," she said, turning back to him. Ichigo took a look at the school grounds, specifically the courtyard where Karin usually played.

"Karin's not here," he determined. "She's probably off playing with her friends somewhere. Where is she?"

"Come on, let's keep looking," Pyrrha said, and the two ran off.

* * *

Uryu fired off 5 arrows from his position on a small bridge, each one connecting with the face of a Hollow. He counted as each Hollow fell.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven," he counted off with a smirk on his face. Then he noticed the sky. There was some sort of distortion in the sky above him, looking like some kind of black mass.

* * *

Kisuke felt it. Something wasn't right.

"So, Urahara," Rukia said, "What's going on here?" At that moment, her Soul Pager started beeping again. "Damn it. A Hollow alarm at a time like this." She pulled it out of her pocket. "Excuse me, Urahara. Business." She turned around and opened her Soul Pager, but just as she did so, the beeping suddenly stopped. She looked at her Pager in confusion. "Why did the signal disappear?" she asked to no one in particular. She turned to look at Kisuke, who had an intense look on his face. "Oh, I get it," she said. "Ichigo must be doing well. He's working quickly today." She went to put the Pager back in the pocket, only for it to start beeping again. But as soon as she looked at it, it stopped again.

"It went blank again?" she asked. "What is with this thing? It must be broken. I mean, it's going haywire." The Pager started beeping again, and Rukia took a look at the screen. "This is strange," she said. "I've never seen this many signals coming in so fast." As she stared at the screen of her Soul Pager, more and more Hollow signals just kept popping up. "This can't be," she said, her breathing starting to increase in a panic. "Can it?" Soon her screen was filled almost entirely by Hollow signals. She could only stare in ever-increasing horror as more and more Hollow signals appeared in her Pager. She was finally taken out of her stupor when she heard the tell-tale roar of a Hollow. She quickly ran out of the front of the store to investigate, and saw a black mass hovering in the sky, that looked suspiciously like a hole.

"I'm feeling all this agitated heavy spirit energy," she said, staring at the mass in the sky. "No. What destruction is about to happen here?"

* * *

"Yasu?" Blake asked Chad, who was just staring up at the sky. They had met up after Chad finished his band practice, and she got to meet his bandmates, Shigeo and Ide. Of course, they gave him no small amount of grief for having a date with "such a pretty girl" as Shigeo put it, but overall they seemed like nice guys. It turned out that Chad played bass in their band while Shigeo played guitar and sang and Ide played drums. They of course, invited her to watch them play next time, to which she agreed, and then she and Chad left to find something to eat. They were in the middle of a fairly busy commercial area when Chad stopped and stared up at the sky with an intense look on his face. Her calling out his name snapped him out of it, and he looked at her, adjusting the guitar case slung over his shoulder that contained his bass.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"It's nothing," he said, shaking his head. "So, what did you want to eat?"

"I'm not sure," she said, secretly happy that he had asked her for her input. While she hadn't been on many dates before, she appreciated that he wanted to know her opinion, rather than just assuming she'd go along with whatever he wanted. Adam just dragged her along on the rare occasion they actually went out, and Sun only ever did what she wanted to do in an attempt to impress her, even if he was bored out of his mind. He never realized that she could tell he wasn't enjoying himself, which completely ruined the dates they went on. Chad was a very welcome change of pace. "I'm still not very familiar with the area or what food we can get around here. Any suggestions?"

"Have you ever had sushi before?" he asked. She shook her head.

"What's that?"

"It's a piece of chilled raw fish on top of a clump of rice."

"Fish?!" She yelled excitedly. He and a few other people nearby flinched in surprise a little bit at her sudden outburst, causing her to blush profusely. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I just really like fish." He chuckled.

"It's Ok. If you like fish that much, I'm sure you'll love sushi. There's a pretty good place nearby."

"Do they have tuna?" She asked hopefully. He nodded. "Let's go! Where is it?!" He pointed down the street and she quickly grabbed his arm and started dragging him in the direction he pointed.

"Uh, Blake?" He said to get her attention. "You don't have to drag me." She immediately snapped out of her tuna-induced frenzy and realized what she was doing. She quickly let go of his arm and covered her face in shame.

"Oh my God," she groaned into her hands. "I'm so sorry!"

_Great,_ she thought. _He didn't think I was a freak when he saw my ears, but he definitely does now._ Instead of shunning her, though, he just chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, if you like tuna that much, make sure to eat as much as you want." She looked up at him and smiled, when suddenly an explosion knocked them both down.

When the dust cleared, she saw Chad standing over her defensively. She looked at the center of the explosion, and her eyes widened in fear.

Standing in a crater was a Hollow.

It was tall and muscular, with a gray body, and its mask looked like a chubby face.

"What is that thing?" She heard Chad ask.

"You can see it?"

"Not really. I can see something shimmering, like heat waves, but that's it."

"There's definitely something there. I don't really know how to explain it." Just as she finished speaking, she saw the Hollow rear back a fist. Before she could react to the Hollow's attack, she was scooped up into Chad's arms as he dove to the side, pulling her to safety with him. He put her down before looking back at the Hollow. Her eyes widened as she saw another fist come flying at them. She dove to the side, and to her astonishment, Chad was able to sidestep it as well.

_He saw that coming?_ She thought.

"Yasu," she called, "I think that thing's after us!"

"I think so, too," he said, grabbing her by the hand and running down the street. "Let's go!"

"Wait! Yasu!" she said. "We can fight it!"

"Too many people," he said simply. "Someone could get hurt." His words made Blake mentally kick herself. How could she forget about the civilians around them, again? First there was that time during her second semester at Beacon when she and the rest of Team RWBY fought Roman Torchwick in his stolen Atlesian Paladin. For reasons even she didn't understand looking back, she and Sun thought it would be a good idea to let a giant mech suit chase them onto the damn freeway, causing who knows how much collateral damage. She liked to think she learned from that incident, but here she was again, about to get into a fight with a monster in the middle of a crowded street without even thinking about the other people that might get caught in the crossfire. And so she let Chad pull her along with him down the street, the Hollow giving chase.

* * *

"Come on, kick it!" One of Karin's friends shouted to her. Ever since she had that weird feeling earlier, she had just been off her game and only half paying attention. Unfortunately for her friend, it meant she wasn't really aiming the soccer ball with as much precision as she usually had, so when she kicked it, she hit him square in the face, causing him to fall over with his nose bleeding.

"Oops," she said, realizing what she had just done. "Sorry." She looked down in embarrassment while two of her friends approached her angrily from either side.

"Come on, Karin," one of them said in frustration.

"There you go, spacing out again," another one chastised her. "Then you kicked the ball without aiming."

"Do you want to play or not?" a third friend asked her. She sent the four boys a scowl that would make Ichigo proud, causing the boys to back up in fear.

"Hey, you wanna fight?" One of the boys asked with his knees shaking so hard they were hitting each other.

"We're not afraid of you," another one said from behind the safety of his hands. "You want to rumble? Bring it on."

"Sorry, guys," she said sadly. "I think I should just go home now." Her words shocked the boys, and she turned around to walk away.

"W-Wait, Karin!" One of her friends called to her. "No hard feelings, right?" She ignored him and just kept on walking away from the field.

_Today sucks_, she thought. _I can't concentrate on anything_. _I keep thinking about that weird thing I felt. I guess I'll go take a bath, eat, and go to bed early._ As she was approaching the exit to the field, her path was suddenly blocked by two people. They were both panting heavily, as if they'd been running for several minutes. They were both teenagers, one boy, and one girl. The boy was facing Karin's direction, while the girl was frantically looking around behind them. The boy was tall, and had shaggy brown hair covering his eyes. He was wearing a pink Hawaiian shirt and gray pants. The girl had long black hair and was wearing a white bow. She was wearing a white zip-up jacket that exposed her midriff and black pants. _That guy looks familiar_, she thought.

"Hey, you're Ichigo's friend, aren't you?" she asked the giant boy. "The cockatiel's uncle?" At her words, the girl behind the tall boy stopped looking around, and looked at Karin in surprise.

"You're Ichigo's little sister," Chad said, causing the girl behind him to open her eyes wide in surprise.

"Oh, no," the black-haired girl said under her breath for reasons Karin didn't understand. She stepped forward so she was in between Karin and Chad. "You have to leave, now."

"What are you talking about?" Karin asked. "This is our playground." Instead of either of them answering her question, however, Chad scooped up both girls into his arms and dove to avoid a sudden impact where the two teenagers were once standing. Looking at the spot where the impact came from, she saw a tall creature with a gray, muscular body, and a white, chubby face. It looked at them and growled, clearly upset about missing his prey.

"What is that?" Karin asked. Chad's grip on the two girls tightened as the monster made another attack. Chad stood firm as the attack hit his back, refusing to let either of the girls in his arms get hurt. Karin could faintly hear her friends express curiosity at what was going on, but she paid it no mind and just kept her eyes on the monster.

* * *

Chad released his grip on the two girls and turned around to face the monster while Blake made sure Ichigo's sister was okay. Well, he wasn't so much facing the monster as looking at a shimmering blob of air. He still couldn't really see what he was looking at, but he could definitely tell something was there. He continued to stare at the invisible blob intently.

_It doesn't look like that thing is moving_, he thought. _Is it waiting for us to move or what? It's hard to tell. This would be a lot easier if I could see it clearly._

"Blake," he called, "What's it doing?"

"It's starting to come back this way," she said.

"What is that thing?" Ichigo's sister asked. "It's so ugly."

"Wait a minute," Chad said, looking to the girl. "You can see it clearly?"

"Of course I can," she said. "It's right there." He looked at her in surprise when Blake yelled out.

"Yasu, watch out!" Chad scooped the girls into his arms again and dove out of the way of the attack, skidding a little bit when he landed. He looked back up at where he saw the blob earlier, but he couldn't even see that anymore.

"Where'd it go?" he asked.

* * *

Blake easily transitioned from being held in Chad's arms to being positioned on his back.

"Yasu, he's over there!" She yelled, pointing in the direction of the Hollow, the action bringing back memories of them fighting the Hollow that was after Yuichi. Right now, Blake wanted nothing more than to pull her daggers out and help Chad fight the Hollow, but she saw that there were still people in the field, specifically children. She knew that seeing someone brandishing weapons wouldn't go over well, so she decided to help Chad see the Hollow instead, just like last time. Speaking of the Hollow, it started throwing a punch in their direction. "Move!" she yelled, and he ran down the field, Blake perched on his back, and Ichigo's sister (Karin, if she recalled correctly) being held in his arms.

"Hey," Karin said. "Can you two see that monster?"

"I can," Blake confirmed.

"Just a little," Chad said.

"It looks to me like you can't see it at all," she said to him flatly. "I've seen these things before."

"You have?" Blake asked. _That's weird_, she thought. _I thought Rukia altered everyone's memories after the Hollow incidents_.

"Yeah. I got this weird feeling that this has something to do with my brother Ichigo."

"With Ichigo?" Chad asked, surprised. Blake suddenly saw the Hollow appear on Chad's left side and warned him. He jumped backwards to dodge, and much to Blake's surprise, he was able to stop the Hollow's next attack by punching it's hand. The Hollow roared in pain and brought its other hand around to swipe at Chad's right side.

"Yasu, on the right!" Blake called out, but he couldn't react in time. The Hollow slapped him across the face, knocking all three of them to the ground. Blake fell off of his back and she rolled several feet away from him, hitting her head in the process and dazing her. Chad came skidding to a stop, Karin held tightly in his arms, before his body went limp.

_Yasu!_ She thought in concern. _Damn it! Come On! Get up!_ She tried to get up to help him, but the blow she took to her head made her too dizzy.

* * *

"Hey, are you alright?" Karin asked to the large teenager when he stopped moving. She could see that his eyes were closed, and there was a trickle of blood rolling down his face. "Come on, buddy. Wake up." She moved his arm off of her so she could sit up, and she started to shake his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up.

"Karin!" she heard her friends call out to her. She completely forgot they were still here. She turned around to see them all running towards her. When they saw the state Chad was in, they stopped.

"Whoa," one of the boys said. "What happened? That guy's all covered in blood."

"Who is he?" A second boy asked. "And that girl, too?"

"Get out of here!" She yelled frantically, knowing that her friends couldn't see the monster. She didn't care. She couldn't let them get hurt. "You don't want to be here!"

"You have finally lost it," a third boy said angrily, pointing his finger at her. "We only came over here because we were concerned about you."

"Why are you being such a head case?" The fourth boy asked. Karin saw the monster appear behind her friends, and her eyes widened. They had no idea that it was there, and they were in terrible danger. So she did the first thing that came to mind.

She pounced on one of them.

* * *

Chad came to just in time to see Ichigo's sister tackle one of the boys to the ground, and right before his eyes, the monster started to appear before him more clearly. He remembered the words of his grandfather. The advice he gave him all those years ago, that the world was a cruel place, but he needed to find a good use for his fists. It was why he never fought back and never threw the first punch. But he very well could protect people. And now, he saw someone that needed protecting. He slowly pushed himself up off the ground, the action causing the boys to run away in fear. He could faintly hear Blake calling his name in concern. He turned to face the monster, finally able to see it clearly. It was readying a punch, so Chad let out a roar and met its fist with his own.

When Chad's fist collided with the monster's, there was a magnificent flash of light, and with a mighty explosion of energy, the monster's arm was blown clean off.

* * *

"Yasu!" Blake called in concern as Chad's fist collided with the monster's before she was suddenly blinded by a bright flash of light. There was an explosion of energy, and when the dust cleared, something was very different about the boy.

His right arm had transformed.

Instead of the usual tanned flesh of his right arm, the skin was pure black, with the exception of a red stripe running along the center of the outside of his arm. There were little wing-like attachments on his wrist, and prong-like appendages sticking up past his shoulder.

Even being from a world where people have superpowers and learn to fight monsters, she had never seen anything like this before.

"What the hell?" She heard Karin ask. "What happened to your arm?"

"Yasu?" Blake simply asked, astonished at what she was seeing. The Hollow roared and raised its remaining hand for another attack, and Chad let out his own roar and charged at it. She could only watch in amazement as bright blue energy exploded out of his fist, hitting the Hollow straight-on. She heard the creature cry out in pain, and when the light died down, the Hollow flew backwards, cut in half vertically, and dissolved.

She had long since shaken off her dizziness, and she and Karin approached him warily. He was simply standing in the field with his back turned to them.

"Hey, big guy," Karin said. "What happened to your arm?"

"Are you OK, Yasu?" Blake asked. He turned around, and instead of answering them, he just gave them a thumbs up, much to Blake's amusement and Karin's horror. Then, a second later, he fell over.

* * *

Chad was barely aware of Blake and Ichigo's sister calling his name in concern as he lay on the cold ground. He looked over at his new arm.

_What just happened?_ He thought. _Where the hell did this arm come from? It just appeared out of nowhere. And when it did, I could finally see that monster completely. But how did—I can't comprehend it._ He looked up and saw the concerned faces of Blake and Ichigo's sister standing over him.

"Neither of you are hurt, are you?" he asked.

"I should ask you that," Blake said with a smile on her face that made all of this seem worth it.

"You're the only one here who's hurt," Ichigo's sister said.

"I see," he said. "Well to me, that sounds damn good."

"That's not good, you jerk!" Karin yelled, kicking him in the head.

"Yasu!" Blake yelled in concern before glaring at the younger girl. "What do think you're—"

"What in hell's name is good about someone—I mean anyone, getting hurt? What kind of macho crap are you trying to sell me, you overgrown, risk-taking dumbass?" Blake's anger deflated at her words, and they could only listen to her continue to ramble on, with blank expressions on their faces. "I've had it!" She finally yelled, pointing at Blake. "You!" She yelled. "Keep and eye on him! And you!" she yelled, pointing at Chad. "You stay put! I'll go call my dad so he can put you back in one piece again. Now, don't you move, or I'll kick you again, you lame-brained kook." She ran off after saying that, leaving Chad and Blake alone.

"She is definitely Ichigo's sister," Chad said. "She kicks just like him."

"I could tell just from the language," she said jokingly. "She didn't even have to kick me." The two of them heard a loud bang, and they looked to see another monster inside of a large crater. It was tall and human-shaped, had pitch black skin, and its mask looked similar to a bird. Chad's and Blake's eyes widened in surprise before the monster started approaching them. Chad struggled to try to get up, but he was too tired.

"Yasu, stay down," Blake said firmly, pulling her retractable knives out of her pocket and extending them. "I'll take care of this. It's my turn." Before he could protest, she charged at the monster, her weapons held in what he could tell was an expert grip. The monster tried to throw a punch, but Blake simply ducked underneath its legs to avoid it, slashing the back of its leg as she passed below it. It fell to its knee, and Blake quickly climbed up its back and slashed at the monster's neck with both knives, slicing its head clean off. In total, the whole fight was over in less than ten seconds. Chad could only look at her stunned before she retracted her knives and put them back in her pocket. "I guess I can kill these things after all," she said quietly to herself. "I wonder how long I've been able to do that." She turned around and walked back towards Chad, before sitting down next to him. "How are doing? Everything still OK?" He nodded. "Good."

"Blake," he said, "that was incredible."

"Thanks," she said with a blush. "Just sit tight. They'll probably be back to help you soon." Before he realized it, she had taken his left hand in hers and was holding it soothingly. "So, this was quite the first date, huh?" He chuckled.

"I'd do it again."

**AN: And with that, we are halfway through the mini-arc introducing Uryu. Now a few people mentioned in the reviews if I was going to ship Pyrrha with Uryu. I'm not going to say if I will, as I had something else in mind, but if I decide to change my mind and pair those two up, it will take a lot of work. This is a terrible first impression of him, after all.**

**With this chapter, we also get the revelation that the RWBY girls are growing stronger. Their spirit energy is increasing and now that two of them have tried killing Hollows, they've learned that they can.**

**So, with two more chapters out of the way, I'm going to write the next two chapters of RWBY: Aqua's Mission. If you haven't had a chance to check that one out yet, please do. This will also give me some time to plan things out here. I made a bit of a mistake. I decided that Yang was going to be hanging out with Tatsuki and Orihime during this whole debacle, but I didn't think of how to integrate her into the fight with the Hollow that attacks them at the school. So, this will give me time to think of something.**

**Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time.**


	14. This story is now up for adoption

**I just want to start off this Author's Note by thanking everybody who enjoyed reading this fanfiction. It really means a lot to me that there were people who genuinely enjoyed what I was doing here. That is why I am so sorry to announce that I will not be continuing to write this story.**

**The last thing I want to do is disappoint all you loyal readers, but I feel that this is the best and only real course of action I can take right now. To be perfectly honest, my heart just isn't in it any more. I tried, I really did, but I just couldn't bring myself to keep going.**

**What started as enthusiasm to bring two worlds that I love together turned to dissatisfaction as I kept going, no longer happy with the work I had done on this story. I kept going out of a desire to not disappoint the people that liked reading it, and it's tearing me up inside right now having to admit that I don't want to keep writing this. There has always been a sense that there was a lot that I was doing wrong with this story, things that I never addressed properly (like something as basic as having the RWBY girls adjust to their new environment and deal with the emotions of never seeing their families again), and I felt that I am just not confident enough with my knowledge of Bleach to turn this story into something truly unique, rather than just the anime with a few extra characters. That worked for some people, and I'm grateful, but I continued to grow unhappy with the work I was doing, especially after I started writing RWBY: Aqua's Mission, which so far has been entirely original content with the intention of making major changes to the events of RWBY canon. That story and how much fun I'm having with it has just made it more apparent how unsatisfied I am with this story. At the end of the day, I feel that you guys deserve a story that I can put my heart and soul into, and I just can't do that with this one anymore. I might re-visit this concept eventually in the future, but I will have to approach it with an entirely new plan of action and if it ever happens, it won't be for a very long time.**

**That being said, I myself would also feel incredibly unhappy if the work and framework for the story here went to waste and never continued, so instead of flat-out canceling this story, I am going to put it up for adoption. I feel in the hands of a more capable writer with a better working knowledge of the universe of Bleach, then the basic idea of Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha dying during the Vytal Festival and ending up in Karakura Town could be done the justice it deserves. If anybody is interested in continuing my work, then send me a Private Message and we'll talk about it. I hope that together, we can make this story truly something worth celebrating.**

**Once again, I am so sorry to disappoint all of you, and I am forever grateful to all of you for enjoying my work. For clarification, I will still be continuing RWBY: Aqua's Mission, and I'm currently hard at work on Chapter 10, so to those of you that follow it, look forward to that in the coming weeks.**

**Thank you guys for everything.**

**-TPoynt**


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